Betrayal of Hope
by Bglswrth454
Summary: The traitors have been revealed, the heroes brought low. But all the consequences of Betrayal have not yet been felt. Even as Ichigo and his nakama try to regain their power, the forces arranged against them grow stronger.
1. Trust Betrayed

**Authors Note: Warning this will be a dark fic but despite how it seems at first this is NOT a Dark Ichigo fic. Expect to have one or more of your favorite characters die or start the story dead. If this bothers you please don't read it. I have placed the rating at T but it may shade into M. There will be some bad language and graphic parts but no lemons. On another note, I am a kleptomaniac Idea thief. Half the time I don't even realize I've stolen something. I read so much fiction that ideas are constantly getting stuck in my head. If I take something that you feel is yours I have only done it because I thought the idea was cool. So let me know and I'll either give you credit for the concept or try and remove it from my story. **

**As far as timeline goes, pretty much everything up to the Fake Karakura town arc. This story goes AU at that point.**

**Also, I do not own Bleach or much of anything else.**

**Now on with the story.**

_Prologue:_

Betrayal….

It truly is a powerful sentiment. One mention of it and immediately your mind is filled with dark images and emotions. You are reminded of the burning ache and shock you receive from even the simplest violations of your trust.

Each and every single time it happens it's like a little piece of your heart is torn from you leaving you bleeding and with a corresponding amount of your life force sucked away never to return. Whether it's something as simple as a close friend revealing a conversation you thought would be kept private, or as heart wrenching as your mate cheating on you, it always seems to come as a surprise. I mean _of course _it does, none of us would open ourselves up to others if we didn't feel that they were worthy of it.

I have become something of an expert on the subject. I have recently been _privileged_ enough to be exposed to betrayal after betrayal. People I thought of as allies have been revealed as enemies. My friends have been murdered or their minds and hearts shattered. The government I once fought for has been revealed to be a group of murdering bastards. Even my family has been lying to me.

All of these I could have lived with. I could have avenged my friends, toppled the government and forgiven my family. In time I could have rebuilt my life and moved on if it weren't for the greatest betrayal of them all. The one that causes me to look in the mirror everyday wondering if today will be the day I have enough courage to end my life just to make the pain go away.

I don't know what pains you suffer through. I can tell you that all the agony you may have felt in your life from physical or emotional pain, it cannot compare to what I live with everyday. I haven't learned much in my life, there hasn't been much time to learn anything. But what I have learned has been earned with tears, pain, blood, and death. So I can tell you with certainty what the greatest betrayal of all is.

My name is Kurosaki Ichigo.

And the greatest betrayal of all is when _YOU _are the one who has betrayed everything you stand for and hold dear…….

**Chapter One: Trust Betrayed**

The first betrayal didn't really affect me much. I mean sure, Aizen Sosuke and his cronies betrayal of soul society did bring about a series of events that nearly caused my death, or the death of my nakama on many occasions. However it wasn't really a betrayal of me, after all I didn't know the guy. Yeah I hate the bastard for what he's done, and I would whistle a happy tune while shoving a flaming poker into his guts, but he's always been my enemy. There was never a time when I knew him as anything other than the slime he revealed himself to be. I will never forgive him, yet everything he's done has been the work of an enemy. You expect him to be evil and sadistic. It even makes it easier to be resolved in standing against him.

The second betrayal was far, far worse.

The second time it was personal. After all the time spent protecting Karakura as a substitue Shinigami, saving Soul Society's collective asses from the Bount, and fighting alongside many different Shinigami in that assault on Hueco Mundo to save Orihime, I had started to develop ties and friendships with different ones in the spirit world. So this time the betrayal hit me just as hard as it did everyone else.

EVERYTHING WAS FOR NOTHING!! All our battles against hollows, Espada, Shinigami, or whatever they were all meaningless. Us losing powers, regaining powers, the struggle to get stronger. It all was MEANINGLESS!!!

Why you ask?

Because Aizen was never a traitor! Or at least he was following orders the whole time. There was someone else behind all the suffering, all the pain wasn't Scumsuke. And we didn't find out until it was too late to do anything but suffer.

Guess who it was. Go on guess. You'll never imagine it. It was himself, Lord High and Mighty, The Great "Burn All Creation to Ash!", General Yamamoto.

Everything we did. Everything! Was just to give him a chance to figure out which of us had to die and who would be willing to join him or knuckle under. None of us saw it coming. In a way I almost envy everyone who died in the first round of purges. They never had to see the chaos that descended upon Soul Society and the Living World. They won't ever have to know the list of those sworn friends who in reality were poisonous vipers. They aren't burdened by the list of those they failed to protect the dead, the dying or the tortured.

That list runs through my mind every second of every day. And the irony of it is that the one person who might actually enjoy the way things are now was the first one to go. The one man who would have fought those bastards laughing every step of the way, and he never even got the chance to draw his sword. If justice is ever served on those sacks of putrid diseased filth, I hope they get dealt some extra vengeance for the fact that of all the people they murdered the very first one to go was Zaraki Kenpachi.


	2. The List of the Dead

**Authors Note: Here is another short installment**. **Hopefully I haven't lost your attention**. **There will likely be one or two more chapters of backstory to bring us to the current situation. At that time I'll be going into more depth and putting in some action. I could still use some feedback. Is this story something that interests you? Should I continue? I would love to have your opinions or suggestions.**

Chapter Two – The List of the Dead

They killed Kenny. It's still hard for me to believe he's dead. Bloodthirsty bastard that he was, he always had a sort of demonic invincibility. I mean if someone had ever asked me what the world would be like after a nuclear apocalypse, I would have described a place with mountains of rubble, the wreckage of people and buildings, and Kenpachi and the cockroaches still alive.

In reality he fell just as easily to treachery as the next person. I don't know exactly how they got him, what trick they used to get inside his guard, but I do know the outcome. When they took us to the 12th Division Headquarters for our "Examinations" I saw what was left of his remains. Thinking about it now still makes me want to vomit. That evil son of bitch Kurotsuchi has his skin hanging on the wall as a trophy. With the butterfly tattoo on his back prominently displayed. I don't know how they tricked Zaraki, but I was able to piece together some of what happened next.

I imagine they planned to hide his body for at least a little while. At least long enough to give themselves time to kill off the other threats to their plans, but somehow Yachiru found his body before they could make it disappear. She may have looked and acted like a little girl, but she was far more intelligent than anyone knew. Apparently as soon as she saw Kenny's body she went ballistic and immediately set out to kill that bitch Soi Fon.

She just might have succeeded too. I mean yeah she was small, but she'd been around Kenny for who knows how many centuries and you can't survive that if you're a weakling, in the end though she never even got a chance at that bitch. For some reason Soi Fon was with that fat slob Omaeda, the asshat 1st Squad fuko-taicho, and Momo Hinamori. I don't know how that fight played out. But I do know it ended with the deaths of all four lieutenants. You got to hand it to those 11th Squad people. They definitely know how to fight.

I still don't know which side the other three would have been on. Yachiru would have been with Kenpachi and he would have been opposed to Yamamoto's plan if only for the fact that he would have been able to fight all out against the toughest people around. I bet Chojiro Sasakibe would have been with the other bastards. He always struck me as having his head so far up the General's ass that he could share his breakfast. Omaeda…, him I just don't know. He was an egotistical, lazy, self-centered, fat slob there's no question about those things. Was he a traitor though? We may never know the answer to that.

They got Rukia's Captain Ukitake in a similar way, I guess it was even easier for them to get him.. All they had to do was switch his medicine for a poison that prevented healing Kido, and then when the news of the deaths of 4 Lieutenants came out he went into a coughing fit he never came out of. I think his third seats must've been demanding an investigation a little too loud because they just disappeared.

I figure that's why they took out Retsu Unohana, she would have been able to detect the poison and sound the alarm. Or maybe not, maybe she was just the next on the list.

In hind sight it seems you would have to be an idiot not to see that something very wrong was happening with the known deaths of a captain and four vice-captains all in a single day. But it did happen fast I guess it's possible with all the shock and panic that it all looked like coincidence.

I imagine by the second day when the bodies of Unohana, Komamura, Iba, and Hisagi were found with slash wounds and drained of rieatsu that everyone knew SOMETHING was happening. I think that's why they framed Ikaku and Yumichika for those murders. Not really because they needed to. But just to add more confusion to the scene. They didn't even try to fight their arrest. They were still too shocked by the deaths of Kenny and Yachiru to really process what was happening.

Zaraki Kenpachi

Yachiru Kusajishi

Chojiro Sasakibe

Marechiyo Omaeda

Momo Hinamori

Jushiro Ukitaki

Kiyone Kotetsu

Sentaro Kotsubaki

Retsu Unohana

Sajin Komamura

Tesuzaemon Iba

Shuhei Hisagi

The list of those first to die, the first of the crimes to lay at the feet of Yamamoto and his fellow demonspawn. The names I repeat to myself everyday. The names that can be added to that of Masaki Kurosaki as people I have failed. Ones I have betrayed with my inability to protect them. Unfortunately in some ways they are the least of my crimes. They can't suffer anymore for my failure. The others haven't been so lucky…

**Next... Chapter Three - Failing to Protect**


	3. Failing to Protect

Chapter Three – Failing to Protect

I still can't believe how they got us to walk right into their clutches. Hell! Walk? Let's be honest, we RAN as fast as we could right into their trap! The entire time thinking that we were on our way to save the day again... Ichigo and friends to the rescue!! I thought that because my name meant "Protector", I could bend reality to my will, no matter what trouble we faced, I would be the one to save the day. Could I have been more arrogant? If I hadn't had my head so far up my ass, _maybe _my nakama might have been spared _some_ pain and suffering. But, all of that came later, regardless. While everyone in Soul Society was dealing with the terror caused by the deaths of so many Captains and Lieutenants, all of us in the living world were blissfully unaware that our lives were about to go to shit.

Another example of just how diabolically clever Yama-crappo and his band of deviants are: while everyone was still screaming and yelling in panic, Yamamoto ordered Byakuya, Renji, Toshiro, and Rangiku to the real world. Supposedly, it was to ask for our help with protecting Seretei until things could be sorted all, of course, immediately left for Urahara's place to use his spirit transformation thingy and have him send us to Soul Society. The Covert Ops squad jumped us as soon as we stepped out of the Senkaimon…

This is where the truly devious part of their plan was revealed: not only did they get all of the people from the human world who might have tried to stop them in one place at one time, but they managed to catch four of the remaining officers all at once, with their pants down.

How could that happen? Why didn't we fight them? Well, you know those tattoo things that seal the reiatsu of any captain or vice captain while they are in the human world? Usually, they seal _(deleted) _about 70 percent of a person's power. Before the four of them left Soul Society, they went toget the standard seal. This time, however, theywere given an industrial strength one instead. Why didn't they notice? Apparently these seals left them with just enough spirit pressure that they wouldn't notice how much had been truly sealed away. I mean, itwould have taken _at least_ a Menos**-**class hollow for any of them to release their Shikai on their errand to fetch us. What are the odds of that happening in the amount of time they stayed in the Living World**,** especially since they didn't even pause to get Gigai's?

When they ambushed us, right out of the gate**,** we never stood a chance. After they placed bands on all of us, sealing away our spirit powers, they took Rukia and the other Shinigami to their traitors tower thing, while Chad, Ishida, Orihime, and I were dragged of to 12th Division. Looking back now, I realize we must have been the first payment of "research subjects" that General Baldy was using to buy Kurotsuchi's loyalty. It truly was a clever move. Not only did he gain another Captain class ally, but he also gained a mad scientist type researcher who has no moral compass.

If we had known what was in store for us**, **Ithink we would have fought to the death rather than be captured alive…

The time we spent as guinea pigs was degrading in every way possible. First, we were stripped naked, and every inch of our bodies were poked, probed, measured, scanned and whatever else you might think of in your worst alien abduction/brutal torture nightmares. Orihime couldn't cope with the brutal treatment. Ishida went into that haughty Quincy mode and kind of tuned out everything. Chad just stoically absorbed those first few days of sadistic testing with his usual quiet strength. I kept promising my vengeance and screaming at our torturers just to keep from realizing how scared I really was. Hime though…I don't know if it's because she was a woman and the invasive procedures brought out a deep seated fear of rape or what, but she just folded in on herselfand cried. It's like her spirit ran to the deepest corner of her being, pulled in what remained of her sanity, andthen rejected everything else. Kurotsuchi was very disappointed. No amount of drugs or anything else he could come up with managed to break her out of her catatonia. Maybe she was just luckier than the rest of us.

Ishida was next. Apparently when the demon clown first researched the Quincy**,** he had never beenable to get a complete understanding of the limits of their spirit manipulation and absorption abilities. So, after pumping Ishida full of drugs to keep him from passing out (after all, if his mind could have protected him from the pain, it might have _corrupted_ the test data, and _of _course that couldn't be allowed)**,** Kurotsuchi hooked him up to a machine that pumped high levels of spirit energy into his body. Imagine being shocked with electricity**, **constantly, as the power level continuously rises. The screaming lasted for days until his spirit abilities mercifully burnt out.

Chad followed Ishida. After sadistically, and repeatedly**, **testing how far his powers extended**,** Kurotsuchi amputated his arms to see if they would regenerate. That particular experiment was performed without any form of sedation. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that his arms didn't grow back.

I'm not sure how much time had passed before Kurotsuchi finally started on me. But, I remember that he kept raving about "how excited" he was "to be examining the captain level son of a former captain", and "Aren't these Vizard abilities interesting?"**.** So in the midst of this torture, I found out that not only had my father _NEVER!_ been honest about who he was**,** but also thathe had the power to save my mother from Grand Fisherand he _DIDN'T USE IT!!_ All the pain that Karin and Yuzu have been forced to endure, it was all _UNNECCESSARY!_ When Kurotsuchi could think of no further degradations he could put us through, we were returned to the Living World. Apparently, Yamamoto had ordered it, as we would be safely out of their hair. If they killed us, there was a possibility that we would be reborn into Soul Society with our powers and memories intact, and of course they couldn't risk _that_. Before letting us roam free, they placed permanent seals on both Chad and Ishida--ensuring that their abilities would never return. For me, however, there was a special treat. They put reiatsu sealing bands on me before placing me inside my body, making sure that I had no way to touch them or try to remove them. I'm not sure how many they used, but the end result was that I became this sort of...void. I think the others are still able to see spirits, but not me. No, I can't even muster enough spirit pressure to be detected. Somehow, my spiritual pressure is below the level of what every living creature on the planet possesses.

On our return to the Living World it was to discover that our imprisonment had lasted _MONTHS._ It was only after this shock that we received our final parting gift from hell: the Kurosaki Clinic, the Urahara Shoten, and the abandoned building the Vizard's called home were gone...all that remained were smoking craters. And on top of that Karakura town itself was half destroyed and overrun with hollows.

So, you see, _**I**_ betrayed everyone. My name means "Protector",so I should have been able to save them! I betrayed my mother when I couldn't protect her…I betrayed my nakama by giving them powers and drawing Soul Society's attention to them...I betrayed my friends in Seretei because I wasn't there when they needed me most…I betrayed my family…

I even betrayed myself…

Betrayal? I know all about betrayal.

My name is Kurosaki Ichigo…

God forgive me…Because no one else will….

Next time… Chapter Four – The Darkest Hour


	4. The Darkest Hour

**Authors Note. A very special thanks to Persephonae for her work as a Beta Reader on this. Any remaining mistakes are my fault for changing what she suggested. I hope you are enjoying this story. **

Chapter Four – The Darkest Hour

A little over three months have passed since Chad, Ishida, Orihime, and I were dumped back into the world of the living. Karakura is no longer the same. Our lives are no longer the same--not that I thought we could go back to being normal and forget everything we've been through. Now everything looks and feels washed out; as if none of this is real anymore.

Half of the city is empty. Once Yamamoto made his move in Soul Society, the Shinigami stationed in the Living World were removed. As a result the number of hollows in town has skyrocketed. It seems like there are almost as many hollows as there are people. The police are currently stunned by the increase in murders and disappearances, having no explanation for the mutilated bodies that are being discovered. _I_ know what's causing this chaos, but how do I explain to the police that a group of evil ghosts with bone masks are hunting and eating people because of their life energy _without _being escorted to the insane asylum?

People live in fear. Everyone who was able to leave the city has fled, and all of the schools have shut down. Karakura town has become a war zone, a ghost town_. _Buildings crumble for no apparent reason; strange explosions occur almost daily, and I have no idea what people make of the giant footprints that appear on cars and sidewalks. I never realized just how the Shinigami protected us from.

The only safe zone in the city is an area radiating outward, about ten blocks or so in every direction, around the Ishida Hospital. Even if he doesn't want anything to do with his Quincy heritage, Ishida Ryuuken is at least willing to protect what he owns. Under normal circumstances, I would be furious that he doesn't protect the entire town. Instead, I'm happy that he protects what he does. It provides a safe-haven for Orihime.

Hime still hasn't come out of the coma--or whatever it is--she went into during our recent ordeal. She's currently a patient at the Ishida Hospital. Apparently Uryuu made some kind of a bargain with his father in exchange for her care. I go by to visit her as often as I can, but it's difficult because I have to do so when Uryuu isn't sitting by her side.

Ishida and I don't get along so well anymore. Not that we were that close before, but we at least had some sort of mutual respect. Now, even though I don't think he blames me for what has happened to the city, to Chad, or to himself, he DOES blame me for Orihime's current condition. I don't know if he holds me personally responsible, or if just seeing me brings back the memories he can't handle. If the situation wasn't so sad, it would be funny. I don't think any of us--even Ishida himself--realized how much he cared for Orihime. Now that he knows, and is powerless to help her, it seems to be eroding his humanity little by little.

Chad and I live together at his place. Since I no longer have a home, and Chad can't care for himself. It's a terrible thing for someone in the prime of their life, to require a nursemaid. It's horrible… Not because I hate doing things for him, but because helping Chad to get dressed, feed himself, and every other activity in life that requires hands is so emotionally draining. He even needs help to remove his clothes and sit on the toilet. Then there's the cleanup afterwards.

I hate it….It's so _demeaning_.

It's not demeaning for me, but it seems like it is for Chad. I owe Chad more than I will ever be able to repay--whether it be in this, or a thousand lifetimes. And it's killing me that I see a little bit of him die each time he needs my help caring for himself. His appetite has decreased as of late. I'm not sure if the depression is sapping his appetite or if he's just trying to keep his bowel and bladder function to a minimum. Either way, he's lost an unhealthy amount of weight. In the one civil conversation I've had with Uryuu since we've been back, I was able to arrange a nurse to come in for a few hours each day. That way I can go to work without leaving Chad alone and helpless. Besides, I think it's easier for him to be weak in front of a stranger than in front of me.

We've settled in to something of a routine: I wake up around 5:00 a.m., pack myself lunch, and prepare breakfast for the two of us. I wake Chad at 6:00 a.m. and help him take care of his morning necessities. Then, we eat breakfast. I try and fix things that come in bite-sized forms that don't require silverware/cutlery. This way, Chad is able to feed himself at least one meal a day. It breaks my heart to watch him bend his face down to his plate to eat, but ANYTHING that will make him any happier--or let him feel more self reliant--I'll do gladly. After breakfast, I clean Chad and help him dress for the day. Then, I rush to get myself ready for work. If everything goes smoothly, I'm out the door before 7:00 a.m., and I can just make it to work on time.

The nurse comes by at 7:30 a.m., and stays until 5:00 p.m. He helps Chad with his bath and feeds him lunch and dinner. With the difference between my leaving time and my arriving home at 10:00 p.m., Chad is left alone for a short amount time in the morning, and for a few hours before I get home from my second job. It's not ideal, but it's the best we can do for right now. The elderly lady next door also checks in on Chad to see if he needs anything. She can't do much for him, physically, but at the least she could call emergency services in the event something happens.

After I leave the house, I go to my first job. At the loading dock, I work from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. After that, I leave and try to sit with Orihime for a few minutes while I eat lunch. If Uryuu is there, I leave for my next job a bit earlier than usual. At my second job, I work as a janitor at the sewage reclamation plant from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Neither job pays much, but what can you expect when you're a 17-year-old without a high school diploma?

When I get home at 10:00 p.m., I help Chad get ready for bed. Then, if I have the energy I fix myself leftovers or ramen before cleaning up and heading to sleep on the couch. I am normally able to get to bed by 11:00 or 12:00 p.m.

My first thought as I look in the mirror each morning, is to question whether I can survive for another day without ending it all. I know I won't do that as long as Chad needs me. But after that…who knows... My last thoughts each day are usually about my family, as well as the friends that I had in Soul Society.

I don't know if any of them are alive¸ the same goes for my family. The emergency services never recovered anyone's remains in either the crater of my family's house or the Urahara Shoten. Whether that means they are still alive somewhere, or have been completely vaporized is a still a mystery. Nothing was found at the old Vizard hideout, either.

When I do fall asleep, I don't sleep well. I often have nightmares of the time we were in Mayuri's clutches. I wake up trying to suppress my screams so I won't wake Chad. I wish I could talk to someone about it, but the only ones who would understand are either missing or have _suffered_ even more than I have. I refuse to burden Chad with any more than he's dealing with already.

I constantly feel lonely. With my spiritual powers sealed away, I don't even have the comfort of Zangetsu's voice or his presence in my mind. Hell, I'd even take that damned Hollow's voice. I think they are still alive somewhere deep inside of me because, sometimes, I can feel an echo of their presence. But most time, all I have is this deep emptiness that reaches into the depths of my being.

Often, at odd moments during the day, I find myself thinking of my old senseis. Urahara was a pain in the ass, but he would definitely know _something_ about what's been happening. And Yoruichi…..she infuriated me, with her constant teasing and games. But, she always had an aura of calm surrounding her: like she had a deep and still pool of peace inside of her that influenced the world around her. I'm sure she would understand what I'm going through, and maybe even have some wisdom that would help me.

Today has been a rough day. It started out badly and has only gotten worse. When I went in to check on Chad this morning, I discovered that something he had eaten had given him diarrhea. After I cleaned him, dressed him, and changed his bedding, I was already running late.

As I was about to walk out the door Chad spoke. "I'm sorry Ichigo." He had said it so quietly, I wasn't sure if he'd actually spoken.

And then of course I made it worse. "Did you say something Chaddo?"

"I said that I am sorry, Ichigo." He spoke loudly enough that I could understand him. It tore at my heart to hear the defeat in his voice as he avoided my gaze.

"Chad, you have nothing to be sorry for," I told him.

He just sort of grunted. I could tell he was still embarrassed over his earlier accident, so I walked back over to him and put my hands on his shoulders.

I waited until he looked at me, then I told him: "Chaddo, you are my family, my _brother_. You never need to apologize to me for anything. I will never be able to earn your forgiveness for the pain I've caused you. Anything you ever need, I'm _happy_ to do for you."

The emotional nature of our conversation was beginning to get to me, so before I started to cry, I tried to make light of the situation by pasting on a fake smile. "Besides, the worst is over for today!"

Then, I turned and headed for the door. As the door was closing I heard Chad's reply, "Ichigo, _you_ have nothing to apologize to _me_ for either."

If only that were true, I thought. Despite my prediction to Chad, the day did get worse. It started after I arrived to work late, once again.

"Kurosaki! My office, NOW!"

It was Mr. Hidamori, my supervisor at the loading dock. I hate his guts. He is a sniveling little excuse for a man. He has no power or influence with those higher up in the company, so he takes his vengeanceout on the loading dock workers--me especially. After I enter his office and close the door, he starts yelling, "Kurosaki, you are late again! This makes five times this month--"

"I am sorry Mr. Hidamori. I won't let it happen again," I interrupt.

"DON'T interrupt me when I am talking, Kurosaki!" Oh that sniveling little voice! If Gilbert Godfried and a squeaky shopping cart wheel had a child, it couldn't sound worse than my boss' voice. "Kurosaki, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sir, I have responsibilities at home to--," I began.

"I don't care Kurosaki! Everyone else has responsibilities, yet _they_ manage to show up on time! You must not really care about your continued employment here.(~_You got that Right!~)_ There are dozens of people who would jump at the chance to have a job in these times. Why should _YOU _be entitled to special treatment? In short, you DON'T, Kurosaki. You're fired!"

No! I can't get fired! Chad and I need that money. We barely pay the bills as it is. I know this weasel is only doing this to make me beg. NO WAY IN HELL! But wait, think of Chad. For him, I will beg this sack of shit to keep a job that I detest.

"But sir, please, I will improve…I swear. I have been late because I take care of a friend who is unable to care for himself…"

"No person is worth more than your employment, Kurosaki. Besides, if this friend of yours is so deserving of care, surely someone besides an irresponsible weakling like _YOU _should be responsible for his care. No, Kurosaki, you are a poor excuse for an employee and you ARE FIRED! If you leave quietly, you may still collect your final paycheck. Security will escort you out of the building. We wouldn't want you to steal anything on your way out."

The _nerve_ of this bastard! After months of knuckling under and burying my anger at his petty villainy, _this_ is how it ends? I want to beat his face in so badly. I may not have fought anyone or anything since before the incident in Soul Society, but I could take this little twit. I didn't survive Kurosaki Isshin's demented brand of parenting without learning_ some_ combat skills. I can picture it in my head: my fist hitting his nose so hard that his pea brain would rattle around in his skull like a maraca. After that, I would just walk out, leaving him unconscious on the floor of his office.

Instead, I swallow down my pride and quietly walk out of his office. The security guard escorts me to my locker, and then to the paymaster. At the door, he looked as if he wanted to say something to me, but all he does is give me a weak smile before going back inside.

I walk around for the next couple of hours, trying to figure out what I'm going to do, where I'm going to find work. Piece of shit that he was, that prick Hidamori was right, jobs ARE scarce--even more so for an underage teen. Especially one without skills, at least none I could put on a resume. I don't think "Former Sword and Hand-To-Hand Combat Master" will attract very many employers. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I can't even figure out how to tell Chad.

Without realizing it, my feet have led me to the hospital where Orihime is staying. Maybe sitting with her for a few minutes will help me to organize my thoughts. As I exit the elevator on the top floor, I spy Uryuu leaving Orihime's room. I try and duck back into the elevator before he sees me, but have no such luck. I don't know why I expected anything to go differently, not with the day I'm having.

"Kurosaki!" he practically hisses my name. I can tell, already, that this is going to end badly.

I cheerfully reply, "Hiya, Uryuu. Long time no see."

"Don't start with me Kurosaki…I told you I never wanted to see you here again."

I sigh, "Look Ishida, I'm sorry... I never meant for any of this to happen--"

"SHUT UP!!" he loudly interrupts me, earning a disapproving glance from the nurse sitting at the reception desk. "You have no right to be here! It's all YOUR fault Orihime is like this! You defile her by your mere presence!"

Can't say as I disagree with you there, Ishida. But this is _way_ different than your usual pretending I don't exist. Why are you so worked up? Hell, why are you even talking to me? And then it hits me… Orihime…

"What's wrong with her?" I quietly ask.

I can tell I caught him off-guard. He looks like he was gearing up to a full-fledged righteous indignation. But, when I ask the question,, he just sort of… deflates. I can't believe it when he actually answers me.

"The doctors want to take her off of life support."

What? "Why do they want to do that?" I demand an answer.

"They say that they need the room for other patients; ones with more urgent needs. With all the recent hollow attacks, they are running out of room and the necessary supplies. Even my father's orders are not going to be enough to override them for long. The medical staff is uniting against him. This is the only safe hospital in the city, and as a result, everyone wants to be cared for here--people with more money and more influence than my father. On top of that, Orihime doesn't have any family to plead on her behalf. She doesn't even have a living will or any other kind of document stating her wishes…" He trailed off.

"How long does she have?" I quietly ask.

"Seven days. If there's no improvement in that time--"

"I'm sorry Uryuu, if there is anything I can do to help…"Apparently that is the wrong thing to say.

Whatever despair had allowed him to open up to me was instantly replaced by fury. His glasses flashed fire as he replies, "There is nothing YOU can do. YOU have already done enough. It's only for Chad's sake that I have let you live, Kurosaki. If I see you again, I WILL kill you."

With that, he turns around and goes back into Orihime's room. Apparently, our little conversation has gained attention. The entire nursing staff is staring at me with their mouths open in shock. Defeated, I turn around and head to the elevator. I have to get to my janitorial job. I can't lose that job, too.

Fortunately, there were no problems today at my second job. I guess now it's my _only_ job. I don't know if I could have handled anymore problems today and _still_ kept my sanity. As I walk home, I sense a dark presence that seems to hang in the air. The moon is covered by heavy clouds, and most of the streetlights are broken. As I walk past a dark alley, I hear the sounds of animals fighting: loud barks and growls from a dog and screaming and yowling from a cat in pain. I look down the alley and, by some trick of the clouds, can see the fight in the dim moonlight. A huge, starving mongrel of a dog is attacking a pitiful-looking black cat. For some reason, the cat reminds me of Kitty-sensei. Without thinking, I rush toward the fight as I scream and yell. Along the way, I manage to grab a broken broom handle from the trash scattered on the ground.

What am I doing? That dog may be starving, but it looks as if it weighs as much as I do. If it attacks me, I might end up badly injured and unable to work. If that happens how would I care for Chad? By the time those thoughts ran through my head, I'm am already in the midst of the fight.

My first swing of the broom handle smacks into the dog and sends it tumbling. I take a quick glance at the cat: it has been brutally mauled. There are gashes all over its body, but I don't have much time to spare analyzing its injuries. Instead of running, the dog apparently decides that I'm a better choice for its next meal, rather than a half-starved cat. It's now crouched and ready to spring at me, complete with foam and blood dripping from its mouth and a deranged gleam in its eye. I don't know what disease or madness this dog has, but I know it's ready to rip me apart.

A slight tensing of its muscles is all the warning I have before it launches itself at me. It comes in low, at first, trying to hamstring me. I automatically swing my broom handle, like a sword, in a low parry while sliding my body out of the line of its attack. I may not have my powers anymore, but my body remembers how to move. The next several seconds is a flurry of dodges, lunges, and snapping bites. Despite its appearance, this dog is FAST, and I'm stuck the limitations of being merely human. I don't really want to hurt this dog; I just want to scare it away. Finally, the dog makes a lunge for my throat. I barely manage to get my stick sword up in time to block the attack. The animal closes its fangs around the stick and tries to claw at me with its front legs.

This thing is HUGE!! It's all I can do to hold off its weight and keep from falling backwards. If I'm not careful this dog will end me. Fine! No more Mr. Nice Guy! I brace myself on my back foot and swing my other foot up in a vicious kick to the dog's belly. I feel the crack of bone as ribs give way and the dog blows a puff of foul air and spittle into my face. That, at least, seems to take the fight out of it. It releases the stick and drops down onto all fours. It growls menacingly as it backs away. When it is about ten feet from me, it turns and runs.

It takes a second for me to catch my breath. I had no idea I was so out of shape. When I turn back to the cat--to see what I could do to ease its pain--the cat's eyes meet mine. What little breath I have regained left my lungs in a woosh. I feel like someone has sucker punched me. That cat…it didn't just _look_ like Yourichi…it _was_ Yoruichi!

I quickly take stock of her injuries, the training I had at Dad's clinic does come in handy now and then. Fortunately, they didn't seem to be as severe as I had first thought. She did have a broken front leg, er..arm. And while she was pretty scratched up, only one injury was serious. It appears that the worst of her problems came from malnutrition and severe exhaustion. She is nothing but skin and bones; she can barely raise her head to look at me.

"Ichi..go..," she starts.

"Shh…. Hush, I'll carry you back to my place. We'll have you fixed up in no time." I can barely keep my voice from cracking as I say this; she looks so fragile.

"No… behind you," came the deep, throaty voice. It is twisted with alarm.

The warning comes too late. I am thrown off of my feet and sent flying. I don't stop until I crash into the wall, falling onto cardboard boxes. I stumble to my feet and look around for whatever it is that is attacking us. Had the dog come back?

To my surprise, I can't see anything! Suddenly I knew what has Yoruichi so afraid, and why I can't see our attacker: it's a hollow!

Since I've been back in the human world, I haven't had any problems with hollows. Mainly because my reiatsu levels are so low that hollows can't even see me. Of course I can't see them either, so there's always the chance that I'll randomly walk into one. But, I'm not too worried about that. With my rotten luck, I'm more likely to be killed by a gold brick falling from the sky and landing on my head. I can still hear the hollows if I'm close enough. And, in some rare circumstances, I can catch a glimpse of one. I don't really see one; not even a fuzzy outline that sometimes a normal human perceives. But, once in a while, I can sense a hole in space; a certain… emptiness that still manages to project feelings of hunger. And I become certain, that I'm in the presence of a hollow.

Even with the large number of hollows in the city these days, it's highly unusual for me to come across one. But, with my luck today, I should have known this would happen. My heart seems to stop beating when I realize the true reason it's here: it doesn't want me, it wants _HER_.

"Mmmm. Tasty little morsel! And it even comes in a bite-sized packaging! How convenient. I LOVE animal crackers."

God, who writes the dialogue these guys use? If I wasn't so scared right now, I'd probably be laughing. Instead, I rush toward where Yoruichi is lying on the ground. She's struggling to get up, but there's no way she can fight this thing. Or run. Not in her current state. I scoop her up in my arms and take off running.

"AWWWWROOOOOOO!!!!" I hear it behind me. Just a few more seconds and I will make it out of the alley! Then I have a shot of getting us away. I hear a noise behind me, and then, in the next instant, the pavement in front of me develops a crater with a series of cracks radiating outward. FUCK!

"Puny human. You shall not steal my food."

You know, I'd forgotten how scary these things are when you have no way to fight or defend yourself. I felt a blow to my chest. The impact rips Yoruichi out of my arms, sending me flying. After I slide to a stop, I struggle to my feet. I see an emptiness in space at the end of the alley; a hole that blocks my view of the buildings across the street. So, it is not even ten feet tall. It must be a weak hollow. Back in the day, I could have crushed this thing to paste just by cranking up my spiritual pressure. If Yoruichi wasn't in such bad shape, she could likely destroy it without having to shift into her human form.

YORUICHI!! Where is she? In the next second I spot her. She is trying to crawl into a sewer grate. She makes it halfway into the drain when the hollow snatches her away from safety. Her limp form rises into the air, towards what I'm guessing is its mouth.

"Now You Die Morsel!"

NO!! NOT HER TOO! I have failed everyone, over and over again. I WILL NOT FAIL HER! In that moment, something flares inside of me. Since my friends and I were captured and tortured in Soul Society, I have been bottling up all my anger, fear, humiliation, pain, rage, and every other negative feeling I have, and hiding them away deep inside of me. At this moment that core of distilled emotion begins to blossom. I can feel a burning hot ember emanating from my soul. It isn't large by any means: it compares to the power I once possessed in the way that a lit match compares to a forest fire. But, it was _definitely _there.

With a scream, I launch myself at where I assume the hollow's mask is located. I push all of the emotions boiling inside of me into a small, bright spark, and then I will that spark into my hand. I swing with all the power my body possesses, directly at the emptiness in front of me…. and I made contact.

I feel the bones in my hand break. I also feel and hear a crack from where the hollow is standing. I can SEE it now: it isn't clear, but I can make out its form. It is a simple turtle-shaped hollow with a mask that looks like the shell of a horseshoe crab. Or at least it had looked like that. The right one- third of the mask is gone completely. The rest of the mask is covered in a spider-web of cracks; some leaking black blood. It staggers back a step and Yoruichi slips out of its claws. She slumps into a pathetic heap on the ground.

"How did you beat me?" it wails. Small pieces begin to flake off of its mask. At first, just a few pieces flake away. But, faster and faster, more and more pieces crumble--until the mask is completely goneand then the hollow begins to fade away.

"You are a nothing…," it moans.

"And you are dead," I tell it as it fades out of existence.

Suddenly, all the energy in my body goes away, as if someone had flipped a light switch. I barely remain on my feet. And I HURT! Every inch of my body is throbbing or aching. I stumble over to where Yoruichi lies on the ground. Thankfully, I can still see her chest rising and falling as she breathes. I gather her fragile body into my arms. Cradling my broken hand with my good one, I start the journey home. I will nurse Kitty-sensei back to health. Then we will make our plans.

Somewhere deep inside of me, I can feel the tiniest spark. It's like a single dim star in an endless sky of black. But, it was there. And it WILL grow. I can feel it. When it does, Yamamoto, Aizen, Kurotsuchi, and everyone else who hurt my friends… they are ALL going to BURN!

Next Time: Chapter Five – The Light Gets Brighter


	5. The Light Gets Brighter

**Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who is reading this story. And a special thanks to those of you who've left me a review. I realize the way I portray the cast – Ichigo in particular- may be OOC. I'm trying to minimize that, but I need more depth of personality than what we have seen on the show. As a result, the way I'm writing the Characters may be a little off from what you expect.**

**Once again this story has been given a once over by Persephonae, I can't thank her enough for helping to whip my grammar into some kind of shape, as well as keeping my ideas understandable. Now, here's the story. Enjoy!**

Chapter Five – The Light Gets Brighter

It's nearly midnight when I finally make it home. I think I broke my right hand in the battle with the hollow, and it is making it especially difficult to balance an unconscious Yoruichi in my right arm while taking the keys out of my right front pocket with my uninjured hand. As soon as I unlock and open the front door, I notice Chad pacing in the entryway. He must have been worried about me.

"You are very late, Ichigo…why are you bleeding? What has happened? And what are you holding?" His questions tumble out in rapid succession. For the normally quiet Chad, this is _very_ unusual. He is not merely worried about me, he's scared.

"Ah, sorry Chaddo! I ran into some problems on the way home. But, I did find an old friend who needs a place to stay for a while." I try and keep my tone light, but I get the feeling I'm not fooling Chad at all.

"What problems? And where is this friend…," He trails off, suddenly looking intently at the black mass of blood and fur cradled against my body.

"Ichigo! Is that Yoruichi-sama?" You have to hand it to him, Chad may be quiet but he's definitely not stupid.

"Yeah, I need to examine her injuries and clean her up."

Chad doesn't say anything more. Instead, he immediately turns and heads toward the kitchen--where we keep the medicine chest. As I follow him into the kitchen, I suddenly realize, _this is gonna be a bitch_! Chad can't assist me with cleaning and dressing the injuries that both I and Yoruichi have suffered. To top it off, I only have one usable hand; the fingers on my right hand are already too swollen to bend them. _No help for it_, I silently conclude. _We'll just have to make do with what we have_.

Once I arrive in the kitchen, I take a few thick towels from the drawer and place them on the counter. I gently lay Yoruichi on the towels. Next, I run warm water into the sink while I retrieve the medicine kit. Chad is hovering around me while I do so, looking like he's ready to burst from the questions that he's been holding in. I can almost hear his teeth grind from keeping his mouth closed so firmly. He deserves answers, but right now, Yoruichi is more important than satisfying Chad's curiosity.

There's not enough room for both of us in the small kitchen, but it would be extremely cruel of me to ask him to get out of my way. Instead, I deal with it—he deserves that much after making him worry for the past few hours. I wet a sterile pad and begin cleaning the dirt and blood from the injuries that cover Yoruichi's body. Even though she is covered in blood and bruises, it seems that most of her injuries are merely shallow scratches. She does, however, have one serious cut, most likely caused by one of the hollow's claws. It extends along her back, from her right shoulder to her left hip. At the shoulder, it's almost to the bone. I'll have to keep an eye on this wound, to prevent a serious infection from occurring.

I use saline solution to wash the injury before stitching the skin together I then apply an antibacterial ointment to the closed wound. It was extremely difficult to do one-handed, but I managed. The stitches aren't evenly spaced, but they'll hold the wound together for now.

After that, I bandage the few minor cuts that are still seeping blood. From my careful examination of her injured body, I could feel how much weight she had lost. I am both shocked and appalled by how skinny she has become; she's barely more than skin and bone! From the loss of muscle mass, I assume that she has been starving for some time.

Chad's patience wears out at about the same time I finish doctoring Yoruichi. He immediately begins firing questions at me, "What has happened, Ichigo? How did Yoruichi-sama get like this? Where did you find her? Why didn't--"

I cut him off before he could barrage me with more frantic questions. "Chad, I really don't know much. The short version is: I was on my way home from work when I saw Yoruichi fighting a dog in an alley. I scared the mutt away, but then we were attacked by a hollow. Somehow I managed to destroy it, and was able to bring Yoruichi here. That's everything I know."

"You destroyed a hollow? How? I thought you lost your powers?" He sounds upset. Of course I understand why: he must think that I've been hiding the return of my powers from him.

"Chad, I don't know what happened, or how. But, for just an instant, I felt something…_snap_ inside of me and I was able to crack the hollow's mask. It was enough to kill it. Right now, I need to try to get some food into Yoruichi. Maybe when she wakes up, she will be able to tell us more about how and why she was in that alley."

I make my way to the pantry and take out a can of chicken broth. In her weakened state, I don't know if she is able to keep down solid foods. Besides, she was still unconscious. I might be able to get some liquid into her, but trying to feed her solid food probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to do when she's not awake to chew properly.

I open the can of broth and pour it into a bowl. I add some hot water to dilute and heat the broth. While it heats, I retrieve a dropper from the medicine kit. Once the broth is ready, I carry both the food and the eye dropper into the den. I still need to deal with my own injuries. Because I'm not gushing or oozing blood out of anywhere, I figure I'll be fine to wait until tomorrow. At least then, I can have Chad's nurse help bandage my wounds. Tonight, Yoruichi is more important. I return to the kitchen to find Chad leaning against the stove, staring at Yoruichi.

"She's really had a rough time," I say.

"Yeah, she has, but _SHE_ can get better," he replies. I can hear the bitterness in his words.

I wince, realizing that he's thinking about his own situation and how _he_ has no real hope of getting "better".

"Chad, I didn't mean to--," I begin.

He interrupts before I can explain, "It's alright, Ichigo. I understand you didn't mean anything by it. I'm going to go sleep now."

Damn it! I can't seem to catch a break today; I didn't mean to make light of what Chad and the others have been through. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to find a way to apologize properly to Chad, without making things worse. But right now, Yoruichi needs me. I pick her up--towels and all--and carry her into the den. Once there, I set her on the couch and pick up the eye dropper. At first, even though she's weak, she tries to fight me. I don't know what horrors she's been through, but they've obviously left their marks. She finally calms down after I get the first drops of broth into her mouth, hungrily swallowing what is probably the first meal in a _very_ long time. I'm tempted to get her more broth, but in her starved condition, too much at once might make her sick.

Now that she has some food in her, she seems to slip into a more restful sleep. I watch her as today's fatigue hits me like a ton of bricks. My eyelids grow heavy with sleep. I really don't know how I've managed to stay awake this long. It has been a very draining day, both physically and emotionally--and I'm so very, very tired…

I hear a mewling cry and am jerked awake—I must have drifted off to sleep. It sounds like when a kitten cries for food. It would be cute, if it weren't so pitiful. I'm sitting on the floor with my upper body lying on the couch; my body stiff from the awkward position. I painfully stand and head for the kitchen to retrieve more broth. I can see the clock on the stove; it tells me that it's past 3:00 am.

I carry the bowl of warm broth--beef this time--back to the couch. When I start to feed her with the eye dropper she almost takes off the end of my finger as she tries to get at the food. Even though she is still asleep, her subconscious apparently has at some control over her body. Again, I feed her the entire bowl of broth. I have no idea where she's storing all this liquid. In her cat form, there shouldn't be enough stomach space to hold all she's eaten. I guess I can just add that to the list of questions I want answered when she wakes.

She's currently in the middle of the couch, taking up the space where _I _sleep. But, I suppose she needs it more than I do right now. I take the blanket and a pillow off of the couch and stretch out on the floor. I want to remain close, just in case Yoruichi needs me again before morning. I drift off to sleep for the second time.

The next time I am awakened, it's from the sound of incessant knocking on the door. I get up painfully from my space on the floor, and make my way to the front door. I glance at Yoruichi as I pass her; she's still asleep. I open the door to find the male nurse who comes by to help Chad during the day. I must have overslept by a few hours if he's here.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-san!" He greets me with a smile.

"Ah, good morning, Kanada-san" It's impossible not to like Machiro Kanada. He might not be the smartest person on the planet, but he treats everyone with respect and kindness. If more people were like him, the world wouldn't have nearly as many problems as it currently does. The one bad thing about him, he's waaaaay too cheerful this early in the morning.

"How is Yasutora-san this morning?" The question causes a sharp jab of shame: how could I have forgotten to check on Chad?

I run my hand through my hair as I answer, "Ah, I actually haven't seen him–"

"Kurosaki-san! What has happened to your hand?" he interrupts my answer.

"I ah…had an accident yesterday."

"You should have had that taken care of, Kurosaki-san," his tone is reproving. "We should take care of that right away!"

"Please Kanada-san, would you check on Chad first? After that, I would love your help with my hand."

"Of course, of course. Excuse me then, Kurosaki-san," he replies as he makes his way into Chad's bedroom.

I head to the bathroom to take care of the morning necessities. As I wash my face, I get my first good look in the mirror. I look horrible! There are cuts and scratches all over my face, my hair has dried blood in it, and one of my eyes is developing a nice purple halo around it. At that moment, I realize something else about Machiro Kanada: he didn't even blink at my appearance this morning. With a poker face like that, I _never_ want to play cards as his opponent. I quickly wash my hair in the tub and leave the bathroom. As I head down the hall toward the den, Kanada and Chad head into the bathroom.

I go into the kitchen and prepare breakfast for everyone. The task is complicated by the fact that I still can't use my right hand added to that is the storm of questions in my head: What happened to Yoruichi? What is going on in Soul Society? How can I apologize to Chad? How am I going to find another job? Will Yoruichi wake up? How am I going to tell Chad about Orihime?

_Inoue_!

I can't believe I forgot about her! She has only six days until they take her off the life support! I remember that Ishida was pretty serious about not wanting my help in _any_ form. What can I do? For now, I suppose, I'll do what I can. I'll do my best to take care of both Yoruichi and Chad.

I set the table for our breakfast. It's just hard-boiled eggs and hash browned potatoes. I really miss the meals Yuzu used to make. I'm not completely hopeless in the kitchen, but I'm not as talented a chef. After setting out plates for Chad and Kanada, I quickly eat my own meal. Afterward, I prepare a can of chicken noodle soup, since I ran out of broth during Yoruichi's last feeding. I take the bowl into the den to feed Yoruichi. She still shows no signs of waking, but her wounds seem to be healing. Her bandages do not show signs of seeping blood, which I take as a good sign. It also appears that she has regained some of the weight she had lost. I know it's probably my imagination, but she looks _less _scrawny. Anyway, I feed her the soup broth. After she finishes the broth she still seems hungry, so I take a chance and try feeding her some of the noodles. She devours them. Chad and Kanada enter the den area as I finish feeding Yoruichi. Chad continues on into the dining area and begins to eat his breakfast.

Kanada comes over to me. "And who is this?" he asks while gesturing toward Yoruichi.

Crap! What kind of story am I going to tell him? I need something to explain both my injuries and why there is a bandaged cat on the couch. I should probably stick as close to the truth as I can.

"I was on my way home last night, and I came across a dog attacking this lady here. I managed to scare the dog off, but in the process, I fell down some stairs. As you can see, I got a little banged up. That's also how I injured my hand. I needed to get home to Chad, so I brought the cat home with me and patched her up as best as I could. I would have bandaged myself but…," I trailed off, giving a little shrug. Kanada gives me an exasperated look, but I think I can see the faintest hint of a smile.

"Well then, let's have a look at your hand Kurosaki-san." He efficiently takes charge of the situation. I can't quite stop wincing at the pain as he examines my swollen hand. He tsks in disapproval when he sees my scratched and bloody knuckles.

"How did you say this happened Kurosaki-san?" I can tell from his tone that he doesn't believe my story. I look at my damaged hand and…I can't blame him. The first three fingers on my hand are swollen to about three times their normal size. Add to that the fact that all of my knuckles are covered with broken skin and dried blood, and it's clear that I punched something… _hard._

"Well Kurosaki-san, I have some good news for you. Your fingers are not badly broken, but the swelling is bad enough to make one think so. You should probably not use them while they are so swollen. I can splint them with the materials you have in your medicine kit, but you will need to go to the hospital at some point to get x-rays taken to make sure there aren't any serious complications from the swelling. Other than that you will just need to give yourself some time to heal. I would suggest you use this hand as little as possible for the next few weeks." With that, he splinted my hand and turned to Yoruichi.

"Now let's see what we have here." He quickly checked Yoruichi's injuries, even removing the bandage covering the long gash I had stitched.

"Did you do the work here Kurosaki-san?" he asked, studying my handiwork. I nod. "Impressive work, especially since you did it one-handed. And you are not naturally left-handed are you?" I shake my head. Apparently, I have been underestimating Kanada's intelligence by a great deal.

"Perhaps you should consider applying for a position at the hospital. With all of the patients we have coming in with injuries every day we could use the extra help."

That would be a great idea… if it weren't for the fact that Ishida is also at the hospital every day. I'm sure that working at his father's hospital would be about as welcome to him as someone forcing him to drink acid.

"This little one seems to be recovering fine. Just continue with the treatment you are giving her and she should be up and moving around in no time," he says as he rises and heads toward the door.

I get up and follow him. "Thank you for your help Kanada-san –"

"Actually, it's _Doctor_ Kanada," he interrupts, "I have degrees in both Psychotherapy and Medicine. I have been here to help Yasutora-san deal with the loss of his arms." Apparently that damn stuck-up Quincy did more for us than I even realize. Well…he did for _Chad,_ at least.

Once he reaches the door, Dr. Kanada pauses; his hand on the handle. He looks me squarely in the eyes, "If there's anything I can do to help _you_ Kurosaki-san, please let me know."

I feel a flood of emotions welling up inside. All of the repressed pain, anger, and fear… it all comes bubbling to the surface from just a few kind and sympathetic words. I don't think that I can say anything without breaking down in front of him, so I slightly nod my head. I think he senses some of my inner turmoil, because he smiles kindly at me, pats me on the shoulder, and then turns and leaves without another word.

I stand at the door for an unknown amount of time, trying to get my emotions under control. I make my way back into the den and sit down on the couch--opposite Yoruichi. At some point, either during my conversation with the doctor or while I was trying to regain my composure, Chad had finished breakfast and was sitting in his chair in the den. He turns to look at me when I sit down. I remember I still need to apologize to Chad, so I open my mouth to speak the words that need to be said.

But, Chad cuts in before I can say anything, "I am sorry for my behavior last night, Ichigo. I was scared when you didn't return on time, and I took those worries out on you."

I try to jump in and tell him he has nothing to apologize for, but he keeps talking, "Doctor Kanada and I have been trying to work through my feelings, and he tells me that one of the best ways is to be honest about my emotions with those I care about. So, I need to apologize to you for my behavior." After he finishes, he lapses into the usual Chad silence. I can't think of anything to say in response, so we both just settle into the comfortable quiet.

The next few days were a blur. Not because a lot of things happened during that time, but because everything was so _repetitive_ that it seems like one long day.

Other than the conversation where I revealed Inoue's situation to Chad, nothing momentous occurred during the days following my battle with the hollow. Mostly, I fix food for the three of us, change Yoruichi's bandages, and talk with Chad. Actually, it's more like I talk, and Chad mostly listens. Despite the time we had to brainstorm, neither of us could think of any way to help Ishida or Inoue. But, we were able to reminisce some about the good times before our lives became the mess they are today. It isn't much, but I think it helps both of us to ease some of our pain. It also helps that Yoruichi is showing continual signs of improvement, even though she hasn't yet awakened.

After days of uneventful silence and repetition, something amazing finally happened: on the fifth morning after my fight with the hollow….Yoruichi woke up!

Coming soon – Chapter Six - A Sleeping Princess


	6. A Goddess Brought Low

My apologies for the delay between posts. The next chapter is completed and I will post it by Monday-I could possibly be bribed by reviews to post it sooner. Again many thanks to Persephonae. This time she performed herculean efforts on keeping me in the correct tense. If I understand her corrections, I 'have been" very thankful for all the corrections 'she will' make. ;)

Chapter Six – A Goddess Brought Low

As I have come to expect from Yoruichi, of all the ways she could have woken up, she chose the one that would be most embarrassing for me. Last night was the most difficult one I've had since I rescued Yoruichi. It seemed as if she was demanding food every hour. In the end, I only slept for an hour or two. So, I think I should be excused for not immediately recognizing the sight that greeted me when I woke up.

When I woke up, I was greeted by a set of golden eyes framed by purple hair staring down at me. I blame my lack of sleep for the fact that it took me at least thirty seconds to realize I was looking at Yoruichi in her human form. And that she was _naked._

When it sank in, I felt my face turn fire red. And then she made it worse…

"Good morning, Ichigo. You didn't have to give up your bed for me…We could have shared you know."

"DAMN IT YORUICHI!!! DON"T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!!! AND PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!!!" I could feel the vein in my forehead throbbing. Then it sank in: if she's talking to me, she's finally conscious. Without thinking, I pull her into a hug. Lack of sleep makes Ichigo an idiot.

"Yoruichi! You're awake! Thank God! We've been so worried." Of course Chad walks in while I am hugging her tightly. I don't realize he is standing there with his mouth hanging open in shock until Yoruichi greets him, too.

"Hello Sado-kun." Though I lean back a little to speak to Chad, I don't fully release my grip on her.

"Chad, isn't it wonderful? Yoruichi woke up."

By this time, he has gotten over some of his initial shock, so his words come out with _way_ too much droll humor in them, "It _is_ wonderful, Ichigo. But don't you think that she should put on some clothes?"

When his words sink in, I let her go so fast you would think she is scalding me. I retreat so quickly that she drops heavily onto the couch. I don't stop backing away until I am against the wall.

"Don't be like that, Ichigo, Chad will think that you don't like me anymore," Yoruichi said playfully, her trademark feline grin firmly in place.

Chad keeps his eyes focused on me as he hands Yoruichi a blanket to cover herself with. "Ichigo, you should never treat a lady like that!" he admonishes me. "You will hurt Yoruichi-sama's feelings acting like you don't care for her anymore."

"No! Chad it's not what you think! I don't...we didn't…we don't…"

At this point, both of them burst out laughing. I expect this sort of behavior from Yoruichi, but from _Chad_? It makes me happy to see him joking again, but this is ridiculous!

I take a deep breath, "So Yoruichi, can you tell us what happened to you?"

They sober up immediately. I feel like an asshole for ruining the happy moment, but not knowing what has been happening is almost as bad as not being able to do anything about it.

"All right, Ichigo, can I get cleaned up first?" she asks quietly. Almost timidly Whatever is going on, it must be terrible: Yoruichi is never timid and very rarely is she quiet.

"Of course. The bathroom is down the hall. I'll get you some clothes and a robe to wear for when you're finished." I lead her down the hall to the bathroom. Then, I find her a robe and some sweat clothes out of my dresser in Chad's room. They'll be big on her, but at least she'll be less on display than she is wrapped up in a tiny blanket. Once I've left her the clothes and a towel, I return to the den to wait with Chad.

We pass a few minutes in silence. It seems like Chad is trying to work up the nerve to ask me something. It's a relief when he finally speaks.

"Ichigo, what do you think happened to Yoruichi-sama?"

"I don't know, Chaddo, but I bet it was as bad as what we went through."

Chad nods his head at this, and I can see that the dark memories from our time as captives are replaying in his mind.

"Either way, buddy, we'll all get through it together."

He nods again and then looks up at me. "Yes, Ichigo, we will."

It's about forty-five minutes later when Yoruichi comes out of the bathroom. She joins us in the den and takes a seat on the couch.

"So you want to know what happened to me, do you?" Her tone is almost angry. As if she's challenging whether or not we're really prepared to hear her story.

"Yeah, Yoruichi, I think we need to know what's going on. What started all of this? Who was involved? Is anyone still alive? How did you end up in that alley? Why was that dog able to catch you?" My questions are coming out faster and faster.

Yoruichi interrupts me, "Ok, Ichigo, I'll tell you what I know. But it will go much faster if you let _me_ talk." I can hear a trace of the old Yoruichi, in the grit and annoyance in her voice, and it makes me smile a little inside.

She continues, "Though it might be easier if we waited until Inoue and Ishida can hear this story at the same time."

"Uh Yoruichi....we don't see much of Uryuu or Orihime anymore…" I hesitate as I try to decide how to explain the situation to her. She gives me a look that tells me I'm not going to like her next question.

Thankfully, though, Chad comes to my rescue before she can ask."Yoruichi-sama, would you please tell us what has happened?" he asks her in a pleading tone. She glances at him and I can see her face soften a bit.

"Ok. Listen closely and _try _to keep from interrupting," she says with a glare. Fortunately for us, it's a teasing glare rather than a 'prepare to die' glare. Even with her recent recovery, in our current state, she could mop the floor with Chad and I. Without breaking a sweat.

"It started when Urahara asked me to do some reconnaissance in Soul Society. He had heard rumors of some strange happenings from his contacts. And then mysteriously, all of those contacts became unreachable. That's when he asked me to find out what was going on. Kisuke wouldn't tell me what kind of rumors he heard, he felt that I might get a better understanding of the situation if I was looking with unbiased eyes. He did though warn me not to trust anyone and to be prepared for the worst. From what I know now, this happened about a week before you were asked to come to Soul Society." As she says this she stares of into space obviously recalling some memory. She gives herself a little shake, like she needs the physical reaction to bring her thoughts back to the present.

"Unfortunately for me I was overconfident," she murmured. She looks so defeated and indrawn. "Despite Kisuke's warning, barely a day later I was captured. Soi Fon met up with me while I was trying to find one of Kisuke's sources. She asked me to come to an emergency meeting with General Yamamoto. I thought that this would be my chance to get a look inside the first division head quarters, so I went with her." She looks at me and I can see the same pain I felt when I realized how badly I had been betrayed. I could tell what her next words would be even before she said them. "It was a trap."

She took a deep breath and looked away before she continuing. "She led me to a private room, blushing like she always did at my teasing. Just before we walked inside she gave me a shove and stopped outside the doorway. At the time I thought she was finally starting to loosen up a little. But in the next instant I realized that she just wanted me off balance as I entered the room. Once I crossed the threshold, I immediately felt weaker. Apparently the whole room was made to act like a combination of seki stone and Kenpachi's eyepatch. It worked on me quickly enough that I couldn't get back out of the room before my powers were gone completely and I passed out. When I woke up I was wearing restraints and a power drain of some kind and not much else."

She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if to hold her feelings inside. "For the next few weeks, I was Soi Fon's prisoner at her home in the Rukongai. During that time, they rounded up all the seated officers they could find, and fitted them with power drainers. They were locked up in the Traitors Tower. After they caught everyone, I was moved to the tower as well."

"Yoruichi, who are _they_? Who did they lock up? Why did they imprison everyone? I know that Yamamoto, Kurotsuitchi, Soi Fon, Aizen, Tousen, and Gin are involved…but who else is on their side? Is there anyone left to stand against them? How did you escape?" And then I realize that maybe she hadn't. "_Did_ you escape?" I ask suspiciously.

She sighs. "No, Ichigo, I didn't escape. I was rescued. And I was just getting to that part." She looks at me, annoyance on her face. "As far as I know, with the exception of some of the lower ranks who are following along, you've named all the traitors in Soul Society. Of course there's still Aizen's followers in Hueco Mundo to consider as well," Yoruichi explains.

"As far as who was locked up, you know most of them as well. They locked up Ikkaku and Yumichika after they framed them for the murder of Unohana. They captured Byakuya, Rukia, and Renji when you all arrived in Soul Society together. Somewhere around that time they detained Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Kira and Isane." It was a frightening list.

"The only ones they missed were Shunsui and Nanao. Apparently Kyoraku is still as sneaky as ever. He heard some of the same rumors as Kisuke, and acted immediately. He and Nanao must have slipped through their net somehow. No one even noticed they were gone until after everyone else had been captured."

"How can you be sure he's not on their side?" I felt compelled to ask. I like Shunsui, but trust is a hard thing to rebuild after it has been destroyed.

"He was the one who rescued us," Yoruichi answers calmly. "The day before you found me, Shunsui and Nanao freed us. They organized volunteers," at this, she gives a bark of laughter, and then she continues. "Who am I kidding? Kyoraku got a bunch of people drunk and convinced them to protest outside the gates to the Seretei. He used that as a diversion while he sneaked into the prison and released us. During our escape, we decided that I had the best chance to make it to the human world and find out what the situation was. The others led our pursuers away in order to give me a chance to make it here," she explained.

"Opening the gateway took all of the strength I had, I couldn't even manage to make it large enough to fit through in this form," she said with a gesture towards her human body. "I was barely able to change forms and make it through the gate before it collapsed. Sometime after that, the dog found me. And then you came, Ichigo." She gave me a slight grin.

"And now you know how I got here," she concluded.

"Yoruichi-sama, why did they do this?" Chad asks as she finishes her explanation.

She looks away as she answers him, "For power, Sado."

"For _power?" _I jump to my feet. "They did all of this…hurt so many people, just for more _power_?"

"No, Ichigo," she says as she looks into my eyes. "They did all of this because they believe that we have become _too _powerful."

I slump into my chair. "Wha?"

"Genryusai and his supporters believe that we have too much power. He believes that over the last several hundred years, as people have grown more powerful in Soul Society, the Hollows in Hueco Mundo have increased in power to balance us out. He may even be correct; in the last few hundred years, there has been a large increase in the number of Adjuchas-level hollows. And, just after Aizen left for Hueco Mundo, there were more people in Soul Society with bankai than there has _ever_ been at any one time before."

"But why does that matter?" I do not understand the connection that Yoruichi is trying to emphasize.

"Ichigo, imagine it like it is a seesaw. Soul Society and Hueco Mundo are on either side and the living world is the seesaw. As long as they are in balance, or very close to each other in power level, there isn't a problem. One side or the other can go up or down a little, and the system can still operate. But, if there is a large difference in the amount of power on either side, all three worlds could potentially be flung apart from one another--like if someone suddenly jumps off of one end of a seesaw, the other end crashes down violently. If that were to happen, all three worlds could be destroyed."

"Would that really happen?"

"I don't know if it would or not, Ichigo. But that's what Yamamoto believes. That's why he allowed Aizen to perform his experiments on Shinigami one hundred years ago, which ultimately resulted in the Vizard. They thought that by giving Shinigami hollow powers, they could find the key to balance the power between the worlds. When those experiments didn't succeed quite like they wanted, they decided to try giving Hollow's Shinigami powers. That's why Aizen needed the Hougyoku, his methods before weren't effective enough."

"Why involve the human world at all if it's the balance between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo that's the problem?" I ask, appalled at how far they will go in support of their theory.

"They believe that the emergence of humans with spirit powers means the imbalance is almost at a critical level. Their theory is that if the human world has so much excess power that normal humans are developing abilities, then all three worlds are about to explode because of the extra energy. That was the real reason behind the destruction of the Quincy and the Bount. By killing off humans with spirit powers they were trying to lower the amount of reiatsu in the human world, and buy some time. And now they feel they are _out_ of time, so they killed, or drained of reiatsu, everyone powerful in Soul Society. I assume Aizen is doing something similar in Hueco Mundo."

"Yoruichi-sama, what are they doing with the energy you said they are draining from the officers they've captured?" Chad asks.

_Good question Chaddo! Way to go buddy!_ I think.

"They are feeding it to hollows. I believe they are also infusing Shinigami with hollow reiatsu."

"I still don't get it. Why go to all this trouble? I mean, people in Soul Society live so long this has to have come up before. What did they do then?" This whole conversation is giving me a headache, not to mention it's _really_ pissing me off. They hurt so many people for _this_?

"Normally the most powerful would be requested for Division Zero, and I guess Hueco Mundo has a hollow equivalent. But for the last one hundred years, no one has been called to serve in Division Zero. For some unknown reason, the pressure valves on the system have been removed, and the power contained in our worlds keeps rising."

I'm so angry now that I get up and start pacing, my hands waving wildly about as I ask my next question. "Why didn't General Assclown and his fellow bastards just off themselves then? That would have lowered the amount of powerful people in Soul Society. Why did those bastards have to do this?"

"I think their power has corrupted them, Ichigo. That's part of the reason I left Soul Society when Kisuke was banished. I couldn't stand all the power games and arrogance. They feel that if someone needs to lose power or die to balance the worlds it should be someone else. Not themselves," she answers gravely. She looks at Chad, then back to me, "But enough of this, I have some questions of my own that I want answered. First, what has happened to Ishida and Inoue? Why are you no longer in touch with one another ? And what happened after you found me Ichigo? My memories are blurry, but I seem to recall a hollow. How did we escape from it? Why are you and Chad living here? Where is your family? Why did you bring me here instead of to Kisuke's? I want answers, Ichigo. And you _will_ provide them."

Crap! Of course she would ask the tough questions first. I might as well rip off the band-aid quickly. "Yoruichi… Urahara's place was destroyed when we were released back into the human world. My family's place and the Vizard's warehouse were destroyed, also" She pales a little at this, but nods for me to continue.

I run my hand nervously through my hair. "As far as the hollow is concerned…well, uh, I kinda destroyed it."

"So Inoue was able to restore your powers, that's excellent."

"What?! Uh, no. I still don't have powers. I don't really know _how _I did it, but when it was about to eat you, I, uh, sorta went crazy and attacked it. Somehow I killed it." I blush a little as I tell her this. I don't know why, I mean I've killed hundreds of hollows, why should this one be special? Am I trying to impress Yoruichi? That can't be it, can it?

She gives me a penetrating look, but for some reason she drops the issue. "Then what about Ishida and Inoue? Why are you no longer friends?"

"Well, I think Ishida blames me for what happened to Inoue. Not just our capture and torture, but for what happened after." I find it difficult to tell her the rest.

Yoruichi seems to understand because she gently prompts me to go on, "What happened to Inoue, Ichigo?"

"After we were dumped off in the human world, we went to Urahara's shop. After we saw it was destroyed, we ran to my house. At that point, when we realized it was also destroyed, Orihime just… collapsed. Her heart had stopped and she wasn't breathing. Ishida and I performed CPR on her while Chad ran to get help. We kept her alive until an ambulance arrived, and they took her to the hospital that Ishida's dad owns. She's been in a coma, attached to a respirator and an external pacemaker since then."

"Well if she collapsed the day you got home, that must be why she hasn't healed your arms, Chad. That must be difficult for you….," Yoruichi trails off as she notices the matching look of shock on our faces.

"What do you mean _that _must be the reason she hasn't healed Chad?" I growl, in a low voice. I glance at Chad, his face is a deep red as he scowls at the floor.

Yoruichi looks back and forth between the two of us like she can't figure out what she's said wrong. And then she continues, "Well, if she's in a coma, that would explain why she hasn't used her powers to heal you." Her tone is placating.

"What powers?" I ask in a loud, angry voice. "She doesn't have powers anymore. Just like the rest of us." It still hurts to have to admit it out loud. I hate feeling so weak and powerless.

A look of understanding and sympathy washes across her face. "I'm so sorry, Ichigo. I thought you knew. Unlike you and your bindings, or Chad and Ishida's tattooed seals, Inoue's powers were never locked away. Despite everything he tried, Kurotsuchi _couldn't_ seal her powers."

We just sit in shock for a few seconds. Chad suddenly gets to his feet and rushes to the bathroom. Seconds later we hear the sound of vomiting.

Yoruichi looks at me with a question burning in her eyes. "Ichigo, what's wrong?"

"I, uh. um," I stammer.

"Tell me!" she demands, without raising her voice. It would be easier to hold back the tide than resist her will in this.

"She, uh..," I swallow and I can't meet her eyes as I finish, "her life support will be unhooked the day after tomorrow."


	7. The Hidden Fortress

Once again many thanks to Persephonae. She was willing to perform life saving surgery on this chapter. I think she rebuilt t Bionic Man style. To all of you out there who have reviewed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You make my day each and everytime one of you posts a review. Even if it's something as simple as "good job" it leaves me feeling pumped up. Please continue to leave me feedback. It's helps me stay motivated to write this story. And AWWWAAAAYY we go.

Chapter Seven - The Hidden Fortress

I see an assortment of emotions cross her face. First is shock, followed quickly by anger. Then, her face settles into a look of determination.

"Well, then. Let's go wake her up." She rises to her feet and turns toward the door. Before she takes the first step, she crumples like a puppet with its strings cut, falling onto the couch.

When I rush to her side, I'm relieved to find out that she's only fainted. Apparently, Yoruichi hasn't recovered as much energy as we had believed. I probably should have seen it coming: she spent the last nine months in captivity being constantly drained of reiatsu; after her escape, she opened a portal between the worlds and shape changed; then, she was injured in an attack after making it to this world. When you think of everything that she's been through, it's a wonder she stayed awake long enough to finish telling us what happened to her.

I arrange her in a more comfortable position on the couch and cover her with a blanket. Chad re-enters the den at about the same time as I finish.

"Is something wrong with Yoruichi?" he inquires.

"No buddy, I think she just tried to do too much too soon, and used up all of her energy. On a good note, before she fainted, it seemed like she had a plan to wake Orihime." I pray her idea works. I think all of us are due for some _good _luck for a change.

"That is very good news, Ichigo," he says, but he doesn't seem as excited as I would expect. "When do you think we will make the attempt?" I suddenly realize the reason he's so unenthusiastic: it's not that he doesn't believe we can wake Orihime, it's that he's afraid to get his hopes up about his arms being restored.

"I don't know, Chad, but I doubt it will be before tomorrow. I don't think that any of us have the strength to go today." I yawn as I finish my statement.

"I understand. Perhaps we should all turn in early today, and see what tomorrow brings us."

"That sounds like a great plan. Do you want me to fix you something to eat first?" He frowns at this, and I remember he was just vomiting a few minutes ago.

"I'm sorry, Chad, I wasn't thinking."

He shakes his head. "No need to apologize, Ichigo. It has been a morning of unexpected discoveries. I doubt any of us are truly at our best right now. I'll see you in the morning." With that, he turns and retreats into his bedroom.

I take a look at the clock; it's barely noon. Still, I _am_ exhausted. I set out my blankets and pillow on the floor next to the couch. I lie down and, within seconds of my head hitting the pillow, I'm asleep.

I'm the first one to wake up on Saturday morning. Today is the sixth day since I fought the hollow and rescued Yoruichi. Sometime tomorrow afternoon, they will pull the plug on Orihime. But, after last night's discussion, I'm sure that we _won't_ let that happen! I go into the kitchen to fix breakfast for the three of us. Whatever we need to accomplish today will be easier to do, if we have a decent meal first.

For some reason things look brighter today, so I go all out with breakfast. I make eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, potato wedges, and toast--in other words, anything I can. In the process, I nearly empty both the fridge and pantry so I'll need to go to the grocery store soon. That thought brings my mood down for a second. Our funds are low right now.

Even though the swelling on my right hand went away three days ago, I still am unable to go into work. With two people in need of care, I have to stay home. But, as I said, my mood only plummeted for a second. I refuse to let worries over money, or anything else, get me down today.

Yoruichi enters the kitchen as I finish dividing breakfast onto three plates. She leans against the door casing. "Good morning, Yoruichi-san," I greet her.

"Good morning, Ichigo. Is there anything I can do to help you?" I give her an appraising look. Although she still seems weaker than I'm accustomed to, she doesn't look like she'll pass out anytime soon.

"Sure, could you help me carry these plates to the table?" She nods, and picks up a plate in each hand. As she walks to the table, her stride is steady and even. Even through the fabric of the robe, the sway of her hips is mesmerizing. Despite having just woken up, and being dressed in poorly-fitted clothing, she still manages to look good. What is it that is so fascinating about this woman? I shake my head to clear those unnerving thoughts, and follow her to the table with the last plate and a pitcher of juice.

"Chad should be here in just a minute." I tell her as I take a seat at the table. She glances at her overflowing plate, and then at me.

"Couldn't decide what to fix? You know, Ichigo, indecisiveness is a sign of a feeble mind." She says with a teasing grin.

"No, I've just seen you eat before. I figured that it would take at least this much for the first course." I shoot back, with a smile of my own.

"Hmph." After that noncomittal response, she turns back to her plate. "Where's the silverware?" she asks.

"We don't use silverware at the table." I tell her softly. At first she just looks at me, but then I see the comprehension dawn in her eyes. She nods once and begins eating.

Chad comes in and takes his seat with a quiet, "Good morning, everyone." I wonder if he heard the last part of our conversation. From the way she's meekly staring at her plate, I can tell that Yoruichi is wondering the same thing.

"Ah, good morning, Chad," I reply.

"Good morning, Sado-kun," Yoruichi greets him.

As Yoruichi and I continue eating breakfast, and Chad begins to eat his, I notice that Yoruichi is sneaking covert glances at how Chad leans down so that he can eat directly off of his plate. Even though she is being very discrete in her glances, I think she's starting to make Chad uncomfortable. So I try and distract everyone.

"Yoruichi?" I begin.

"Yes, Ichigo?" As she looks at me, she suggestively licks a piece of egg off of her fingers. For some reason, I suddenly have difficulty swallowing.

"Ah, well, uh," I stammer.

"Go on, I won't bite," she tells me with one of her trademark feline grins. Chad is bent over his plate, but I think I hear a distinct snort of laughter from his direction. _Traitor, _I think, _I'll get you for that later._

"Yesterday, before you fell asleep, you seemed to have a plan for what to do about Orihime?" What I intended to be a statement, comes out as a question.

"Yes, Ichigo, I do have an idea about what we can do for Inoue. First, though, I will need to get some things from Kisuke's." She gives her attention to the last few bites of food on her plate.

"But, Urahara-san's store has been destroyed. I don't think there will be anything there we can use," Chad tells her. He has a bread crumb stuck to his eyebrow. I have trained myself not to stare or laugh at Chad while he's eating--things get really messy for him. But, I am both shocked and impressed by Yoruichi's actions. Without even pausing her explanation, she reaches over to Chad and wipes away the crumb with her thumb. Chad looks like he is unsure whether to be embarrassed, irritated, or thankful for this treatment.

"Yes, Chad, you told me last night that the Shoten was destroyed. Fortunately for us, Kisuke is more than a little paranoid. He has bolt holes and storage facilities stashed all over, and even under, Karakura. He keeps food, money, clothing, and a whole range of useful things in each of them. Almost all are shielded, so that anyone outside of them have no idea they're there. Now that I am starting to regain my powers, I think all of us should plan on moving into one of these hideouts, so that if Soul Society tries looking for me, I'll be untraceable."

I rise quickly to my feet as that news sinks in. Yoruichi seems to guess the direction of my thoughts, because her tone is soothing as she continues, "Don't worry, Ichigo. I am quite an expert at hiding my reiatsu, and I doubt I had enough spirit energy during my recovery to set off any of their sensors. Even now, I may not have enough power to be detected. It's just wise for us to take all of the precautions we can."

I nod my head in agreement. After all, if they knew she was here, we would already have troops attacking us.

"Are you boys finished with breakfast?" She looks at both Chad and I; we nod in reply. "Then, let's get going." She rises to her feet, and heads through the kitchen toward the door. Chad quickly follows her. I'm the last one to leave the apartment. As I close the door, I cast a guilty glance through the kitchen and into the dining area, where the dirty plates remain on the table. Although, I suppose, neatness is justifiably low on our list of priorities right now.

Everyone we pass stares at our little group. It makes me extremely glad that very few people are out on the street this early, though I have to admit, we _do_ make an unusual procession. In the lead, we have a dark-skinned woman with purple hair wearing ill-fitting men's clothing followed by an extremely tall young man with no arms. Bringing up the rear is a second young man with bright orange hair and a developing scowl. It's hard to know what kind of ideas our appearances are giving people. But, based on their looks, and immediate aversion of their eyes, I believe the general consensus is that we are either escapees from a circus or that we are coming from a very kinky sexual rendezvous.

We set off in the direction of the Uryuu hospital. After walk for about ten minutes, and are only a few blocks away from the safe zone that surrounds the hospital, Yoruichi turns off the street and leads us down an alley. The alley itself is very narrow, maybe only ten or twelve feet wide. In addition to that, the alley is almost completely filled with trash and other discards of human civilization.

"Oi, Yoruichi! Where the hell are you leading us? Is this storage place inside a dumpster?" I ask as I avoid stepping in a smelly pile of _something_.

She just glances over her shoulder at me and grins, "Patience, Ichigo. Haven't you heard that 'good things come to those who wait'?"

Once we get to the back wall of the alley, Yoruichi places her hand against the wall. She presses several different bricks in a rapid, and very complicated, series of movements. She pauses before pressing several more bricks.

"Hey, Yoruichi, are we going to get going any time today?" In the next second, a section of the alley wall to our left sinks back into itself, sliding aside to reveal a small room. Both Chad and I have identical looks of amazement. We're still standing there with our mouths hanging open in surprise when Yoruichi walks into the room, turns around, and with a mocking expression, says, "Well boys, are we going to get going any time today?"

Chad and I step into the room, and the wall instantly seals itself behind us.

"Um, Yoruichi-san, where are we going?" Chad asks. The words are barely out of his mouth when the room we're in begins to fall at an insane rate of speed. We descend for what seems like forever, but in actuality is probably only fifteen seconds. Then the room, which I guess is actually an elevator car, begins to slow down. Once we come to a complete stop, the wall behind us opens, revealing a broad hallway stretching perhaps two hundred feet in front of us. Along the left wall are four doors, spaced approximately every fifty feet. On the right are ten or twelve doors at irregular intervals. At the very end of the hallway is a huge double door.

Yoruichi strides ahead at a very quick pace. After a second, Chad and I follow her. We haven't taken more than two steps, when suddenly huge steel bars come crashing from the ceiling to surround and enclose Chad and me. Red lights begin flashing up and down the hallway, a siren blares so loudly that I can barely think. More frightening, however, is the fact that numerous nozzles, barrels, and ominous-looking devices drop from the ceiling all around us. A loud, artificial-sounding voice begins broadcasting a recorded message.

"Danger! Danger! Unauthorized presence detected. Intruders will be terminated in five seconds. Four…three…two…," the voice continues.

Yoruichi comes to our rescue, "Override! Yoruichi gamma gamma alpha flash seven."

"Hold code accepted. Please enter countersign," responds, what I'm guessing is, the defensive system. None of the weapons pointing at us go away, and the red lights are still flashing, but at least the siren turns off.

Yoruichi mumbles under her breath, "I really hate this part!"

"Countersign not recognized. One more wrong attempt will result in termination," the system continues.

"Urahara, by the wisdom of the builder, from the power of his hand, inside his great defenses, we present wish to stand," Yoruichi growls out, obviously embarrassed at the ridiculous words that just came out of her mouth.

"Voicecode recognized. Welcome, Shihoin Yoruichi. Please provide identities and access levels of intruders." What the heck is this thing? At first, I thought it might just be an automated recording, but more and more it sounds almost like some kind of artificial intelligence.

"Kurosaki Ichigo and Yasutora Sado. Grant full access and level II permission," Yoruichi responds. In an aside to us, she says, "If I wasn't so appreciative of these hiding places, I would _kill_ Kisuke for making me use his ridiculous access codes."

The computer spoke up again. "Identities and access levels registered. Kurosaki Ichigo, please submit a vocal sample for analysis."

"Uh, wha? Yoruichi what does this stupid thing want? And make it point those guns the hell away from us!" I practically scream at her, I blame my fear and nervousness for the volume level of my voice.

"Voiceprint accepted. Yasutora Sado. Please submit a vocal sample for analysis." I'm really starting to hate this damn machine.

Chad responds in a calm, clear voice "Hello my name is Chad. Who are you?"

"Additional phonemes required. Please repeat the following words: bug, friend, dervish." Chad looks confused for a second before comprehension dawns, and he repeats the words.

"Thank you. Access granted, standing down from alert mode. This unit is the On-site Computerized Director, identification number 655413. You may refer to me as 'OCD'. Please notify me of any requirements." With that, both the cage walls and the weapons retract into the ceiling, and the lights in the hall return to normal.

"Well Sado-kun, I think the computer likes you," Yoruichi announces into the silence. This causes Chad and I to turn our attention back to her.

"Yoruichi-sama, what just happened?" Chad asks hesitantly. He sweeps the ceiling above us, and the walls to either side, with an uneasy glance.

Yoruichi begins walking down the hallway again; Chad and I closely follow her, neither one of us want to be left alone with the unknown dangers of this supposed 'safe house'. As she walks, Yoruichi begins to explain, "What you just heard was the voice of the oversight and defense system of this storage facility. Urahara has one in all his different bolt holes. They monitor the amount of supplies on hand, manage the environmental controls, maintain the alarm systems, and, when necessary, appropriately welcome uninvited guests. If OCD hadn't recognized me as an authorized user, the elevator we rode to this level would have accelerated until it reached the bottom of the shaft several hundred feet below where we are now. And then it would've exploded."

"But, Yoruichi, anyone who came here looking for Urahara would probably be either hollows or Shinigami, wouldn't they?" Chad asks. The look of nervousness on his face has deepened.

"Good question," She gives an approving nod of her head in his direction, "And yes, most people who came here looking for trouble _would_ be in a spirit body, or at least wouldn't be hurt much by that level of physical assault. For that reason, both the elevator car and the shaft are made of Seki Seki stone. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to exit the elevator if the doors didn't open. And the explosion triggered when the car hit the bottom of the shaft has the equivalent destructive power of ten ceros. Even if it didn't destroy the intruders completely, it would definitely slow them down. And all of Kisuke's places have multiple entrances and exits.

"If, by some chance, someone made it to this level, they would be greeted as you guys were, no matter where they appeared. If they had no one to vouch for them, they would've been terminated." It's almost with a sense of pride that she tells us all of this. I can't help but wonder if she was Urahara's inspiration for some of the more evil portions of his defenses.

"Yoruichi, you knew about all of this! Why didn't you warn us?!" I demand. She just looks at me over her shoulder with a predatory grin.

By this time we are at the end of the hallway. Yoruichi stops and faces the last door on the left. All of the doors in the hallway appear to be traditional Japanese paper screens, but I doubt they are as flimsy as they look. Yoruichi places her palm flat against the middle of the door. A pale blue circle appears around her hand. After a moment, it turns green and the door opens. My hunch about the durability of the doors is proven true when the door slides open. As the side of the door is revealed, its cross section is at least a foot thick and it appears to be made of some strange metallic substance. If all of the doors and walls in this place are of similar construction, then this is not a storage facility, it's a bloody fortress!

The room in front of us is initially dark. However, as soon as Yoruichi steps across the threshold, a series of lights begin to turn on. The space that is revealed is immense! Even though the room is only about fifty feet wide, it's at least forty feet tall and it goes on for three hundred or four hundred feet. This space is divided by three rows of shelves. Each shelf stretches nearly to the ceiling, and they appear to run the full length of the room. It appears there is a cross aisle every forty to fifty feet. And to allow easier access, each shelf has a rolling ladder every ten to fifteen feet.

"Yoruichi, what _is_ this place? Where _are_ we?" I don't even try to act unimpressed. Next to me, Chad gazes around, his eyes wide with astonishment. When our eyes meet for a second, he shrugs at me, and then goes back to staring in awe.

"This is one of Kisuke's emergency storage facilities. I've explained that to you before. At least _try_ and keep up," she openly mocks. I can tell it's not malicious, though, and her flip, sarcastic attitude does a great deal to help restore my confidence, even if it does make the vein in my forehead throb. "As to where we are…we're approximately five hundred feet directly below the alley we entered from."

Chad regains some of his equilibrium, and he's the next one to ask Yoruichi a question, "Yoruichi-sama, what are we here to get?"

"First, I'm going to get myself a change of clothes. They should be on the third aisle, fifth rack in. After that, I'm going to pick up a few items I'll need to help Orihime. After I get those items, it'll take me the rest of the day to make preparations. I'll need to be left alone during that time."

"How will you find anything in here? This place is _huge_!" I chime in. After all, I can't let Chad have _all_ the good questions.

"Kisuke arranges all of his facilities on the exact same layout, and if by some chance I get turned around, I can just ask the OCD.

"What should we do?" I ask.

"If you want, you can get us some money in case we need to buy something when we leave here. One bundle should be sufficient…OCD? Where is the cash located?"

The voice of the computer responds to her "Paper currency is located on Aisle One, Row C, Shelf Eight."

"Okay Ichigo, you and Chad should get one of those, and then you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day. The aisles are numbered one through four, from left to right. The rows are alphabetized starting closest to the hallway door. The shelves are numbered from floor to ceiling. Once you go back into the hallway, take a right and the middle door on the left wall leads to the kitchen. The kitchen has a well stocked walk-in pantry and freezer. To the left of the kitchen are bedrooms. And to the right of the kitchen is an entertainment room. Amuse yourselves however you like: eat, watch TV, sleep, or you can explore the facility. I will be in the room directly across from this one; please don't disturb me." With that, she sets off toward where the clothing is stored.

"Hey, Yoruichi, hang on," I call after, but she doesn't acknowledge that she hears me. Instead, she just keeps walking. I turn to Chad, "So, buddy, I guess it's just you and me."

Just then, I hear Yoruichi's voice call back to us, "If the computer doesn't automatically open a door for you, don't try to enter that room. You won't like what happens if you do."

"Uh, Chaddo, maybe we should get that money and then go to the kitchen." I say to him with an uncertain look. He nods emphatically.

We set out for 'Aisle One, Row C, Shelf Eight'. Once we get there, I find the nearest ladder, using it to climb up to Shelf Eight. The eighth shelf is about thirty feet from the floor, and when I get that high, I almost fall off the ladder in shock at what I saw: the cash was in shrink-wrapped blocks, each block containing five paper banded bundles. The banks bundle bills in groups of one hundred, so each of these blocks would have five thousand bills in them. The blocks were stacked five high, four deep, and ten wide. And that wasn't the most shocking part: _all _of the bills, all two hundred bundles, were _hundreds_! And this is only _one_, of who knows how many storehouses Urahara has throughout Karakura. Who would have guessed from his poor fashion sense, that old Hat and Clogs was a multi-multi-multimillionaire? At least we don't have to worry about paying the bills anymore!

After I climb down from the ladder and rejoin Chad on the floor, I ask him, "Are you ready to go to the kitchen? Or do you want to try exploring a bit first?"

"I think it might be wise for us to go to the kitchen. Get ourselves some snacks and then explore this TV room." Sometimes Chad seems to be able to cut right through the unnecessary things, and go directly to the best possible idea.

"That sounds like a plan. I mean, if this is Urahara's idea of emergency money," I give the block of money in my hand a little wave, "just think of what kind of food that he has stored here!" Chad smiles at the excitement in my voice, and without another word, we set off to find the kitchen.

We make only two mistakes as we try to find the kitchen. Both of the rooms we enter turn out to be small bedrooms, about fourteen feet wide by fifteen feet deep. Each bedroom has an identical layout: a small dresser for clothing and a thick queen-size futon mattress on a bamboo mat centered on the back wall. Each bedroom also has a row of sliding doors along one side wall, which turns out to be closet space. Inside the closets are pillows and fresh linens for the beds.

When we first entered the facility, I wasn't sure if there were ten or twelve doors on the right side of the hallway; it turns out that there are eleven. The door in the very middle of the hallway is the one that leads to the kitchen. Even with Yoruichi's directions, we're lucky that we found the kitchen on our third try. When Chad and I enter the room, we discover that it's not _just_ a kitchen: a portion of the space is devoted to a large dining area. To our left is what appears to be a restaurant-style kitchen, complete with stainless steel appliances, multiple ovens and stove tops, as well as cutting and mixing stations. There is even a pair of giant cauldrons! In short, this room contains everything you could possibly need to feed dozens of people at a time and then clean up afterward.

To the right, divided from the kitchen by a chest-high wall, is a dining area. It is outfitted with ten tables, each with seating for ten people. On every side of the dining area, except the side facing the kitchen, there are giant LCD TVs mounted to the walls.

Chad and I make our way through the kitchen, toward the back wall. Once there, we find a pair of doors, spaced about fifteen feet apart. The door on the left is a giant piece of stainless steel; the door on the right is a common wooden door. I imagine the metal door leads to the freezer, while the wooden one leads to the pantry.

"So, Chad, which do you want to try first: pantry or freezer?" Both Chad and I have been on somewhat of a limited diet for the last several months; our lack of income keeping us from buying more than the very basics. Because of this, we both immediately come to the same conclusion.

"Freezer!"

We enter the freezer and are suddenly transported into a paradise of frozen meats, vegetables, desserts, and other delicacies from around the world. Conveniently, just inside the door is a shopping cart—just like what you would find in a grocery store. Taking hold of the cart, Chad and I set off on our adventure into this cornucopia of caloric goodness.

After making an excursion into the pantry, and discovering in the process that it was just as amazing as the freezer, we prepare our selection of gastronomic delights. Two hours later, Chad and I have finally had enough to eat, and we decide to explore the TV room that Yoruichi mentioned earlier. We exit the kitchen and turn to our left. When we get to the next door, we open it. After looking inside, we slam the door closed as quickly as possible. It's only then that I recall Yoruichi referring to it as an "entertainment" room, _not_ a "TV" room.

Chad turns to look at me. "Ichigo," he says in a strained, high-pitched voice, "let us agree to never speak about that room, to _anyone_." I silently nod in agreement.

After that awkward experience, we're unwilling to risk exploring any of the other rooms. Instead, we return to the dining area; where we watch TV for the next few hours. Eventually we tire, and decide to turn in for the night. I make up the bed for Chad in one of the bedrooms we previously discovered. I then leave for my own room. I must say, it's really nice to be sleeping in a bed again. I mean, the couch was okay, but the last week on the floor hasn't been the best of experiences.

Maybe tomorrow we can find out Yoruichi's plan for helping Orihime.


	8. Prelude to a Dream

**Sorry for the delay folks. You may be happy to know that I'm going to try and get on a Wednesday/ Saturday posting schedule. Right now I'm writing like mad to try and get a few chapters of buffer. A big thank you to everyone who is reading this, according to the story stats I might even have as many as 178 regular readers. I'm blown away by that. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, you give me the energy to write. Special thanks as always to Persephonae, and could you lend me your vocabulary? I'm running out of original ways to show my appreciation and gratitude. **

Chapter Eight - Prelude to a Dream

I wake up feeling truly rested. It's the first time I've felt this way since before I left for Soul Society. I get dressed and make my way out of the bedroom. Once I'm in the hallway, I ask the computer to direct me to the bathroom.

"Yo, OCD thing! Where's the bathroom?" I feel a little strange talking to thin air, but I would rather feel strange than discover any more unusual surprises by looking around on my own.

"The men's bathroom is located adjacent to Storage Room One. I will illuminate the door."

Across the hall, a door begins to glow blue. It's next to the storage room we explored yesterday. I make my way over to the door. When it opens, it reveals an elaborate entry room; floor, walls, and ceiling--everything is paneled in a dark wood. Along the back wall is a series of disrobing cubicles. In the middle of that wall is an archway leading into the main bathing area. The wall to my left holds an armoire. Curious, I look inside and discover that it is filled with cedar-scented robes, washcloths, towels, and a selection of rubber sandals. To the right of the armoire is a series of cubbies for clothing and shoes. I take a towel and a robe and remove my clothing.

Dressed in a thick robe with a towel and washcloth in hand, I pass through the arch leading into the main bathing area. The bathroom must have been built to the same grand scale as the rest of this facility; it stretches at least a hundred feet, from where I stand at the entrance, to the back wall. The entire room is tiled in a soothing swirl of green and white. To my right is a half dozen open doors; through the doors, I can see private toilets. Along the left wall is a bank of eight or nine sinks with a row of mirrors above them. Separating this area from the rest of the bathing room is a waist-high tile wall. Past the wall is an aquatic playground.

After the divider wall, two giant heated pools are located on each side of the central aisle. Past the large pools are a dozen individual bathtubs. In the back left corner is a large steam room, and the back right corner holds a large section of showers.

I take a long, luxurious hot shower. After I finish, I gaze longingly at the soaking pools before deciding that, at the moment, I don't have enough time to soak in a bath. I get dressed and deposit my damp towel and robe into a chute marked 'dirty clothes'. Then I make my way to the kitchen/dining area.

Chad is already there. He also looks freshly scrubbed and dressed.

"Good morning, Chad. I didn't see you in the shower." He apparently understands the unasked question 'how did you get ready without help?', because he responds with the answer.

"Good morning, Ichigo. OCD directed me to a handicapped bathroom, where it was able to assist me in getting ready." He says this with a cheerful attitude. I'm _shocked_ at his tone! Normally Chad is very sensitive and embarrassed about needing help, but I guess getting help from a machine doesn't hurt his sense of pride the way that relying on another human does. And that is something to be thankful for.

"So, what do you want for breakfast?" I ask him as I make my way into the kitchen portion of the room.

"I believe I would like creamed wheat, with brown sugar and honey." He starts off strong, but then winds down as he shyly concludes while looking at the table in front of him, "...That is, if you would be willing to help me eat it."

"If that's what you want, that's what you get!" I set about fixing enough for three people, just in case Yoruichi shows up in time for breakfast.

Just as I finish helping Chad finish his bowl of hot cereal, she does in fact appear. Whereas both Chad and I slept well, judging by her bloodshot eyes and the bags under them, Yoruichi did _not._ She's dressed in her traditional outfit: a black, backless body suit, orange jacket, and tan cloth wraps around her forearms. She doesn't even greet us as she walks into the kitchen and prepares herself a _very _strong cup of tea. She downs the first cup in a single gulp and then prepares another one just as strong. Once it's ready, she brings the second cup to the table where we are sitting. Through all of this, Chad and I have been silently watching her.

Once she slumps into a seat at the table, I break the silence. "Ah, good morning, Yoruichi. Is everything alright?"

She looks up at me, and has to blink three or four times before she can focus on me. I'm stunned by the amount of weariness I can see in her eyes. Whatever vibrancy she had yesterday seems to have been sucked out of her.

"I'm OK, Ichigo...Or at least, I'm doing as well as can be expected."

She takes _my_ breakfast bowl and begins eating ravenously. I get up and go into the kitchen to dish out the final portion of creamed wheat. I figure she can use the sugar rush, so I coat it with honey and brown sugar. I bring it back to the dining area just as she finishes my breakfast. Wordlessly, I put the bowl in front of her and retake my seat next to Chad.

"Yoruichi-sama, what happened?" Chad asks when she pauses eating for a moment.

She jumps in her seat, like she hadn't recognized that he was there. What could have caused her to be like this?

Turning to Chad, she replies with a weak smile: "Good morning, Chad. It's nothing, really. I just needed to use one of Kisuke's inventions. It was designed for emergency situations to rapidly restore reiatsu. The best solution would have been food and rest but we don't have time for that. "

"What exactly did it do to you?" I interject loudly.

"It's a device designed to allow someone to keep fighting even after all their reiatsu is drained. It trades the body's reserves for a boost of spirit energy."

"But, Yoruichi, you don't _have _any reserves to trade. It could have _killed_ you!"

She replies in a stern voice. "Ichigo, if Orihime hasn't woken on her own by now, then it's unlikely that she will. So the only way to wake her will be by an outside force. Kurotsuchi tried to affect her by _external_ means, and failed, which indicates that we need to attempt an _internal _change. Kisuke has a device that will allow us to enter her mental landscape, but only if we have someone able to pour sufficient reiatsu into it to make it operate. In addition to the power requirement, it has to be someone with sufficient control over their spirit pressure to balance the flow of energy. If we want to help Orihime it has to be me operating the device. Unless _YOU_ know of someone else who meets those requirements?" She stares into my eyes demanding an answer.

After a few seconds, I look away as I grudgingly answer, "No."

She smiles at my admission, but it's an empty smile. "Well then, I only did what I had to...We'll leave for the hospital in ten minutes. Meet me at the elevator."

She rises unsteadily to her feet and leaves the kitchen. Chad, who has been following this interaction quietly, turns towards me. "Do you think she will be alright, Ichigo?"

"She has to be, buddy. She just _has_ to."

At the arranged time, Chad and I are waiting at the elevator. At the far end of the hall, Yoruichi exits her room and walks toward us. It seems that she took the time to freshen up a bit, because she appears more alert than she did at breakfast. In her left hand she holds a long, narrow box; her right hand is closed around something small. When she reaches us, she opens her right hand to reveal two objects that look like keyless entry remotes for a car. Both of them are on short lanyards so that they can be hung from a belt. With her hand, she motions toward me, so I take one. While I'm attaching it to my belt, she places the second on Chad's belt.

"Yoruichi, what are these for?" I ask.

"They will open the elevator entrance in the alley for you, in case I'm not with you when you come back. Just be sure not to bring any visitors, the computer will recognize both of you, but you don't have the codes or the access level to approve new people."

"Why wouldn't you be with us when we come back...?" I trail off as the reality of her words sets in: she may not be _able _to come back with us. If this procedure to help Orihime really takes so much reiatsu that she had to use a dangerous device to restore some of her power levels, then she may not survive the attempt to use it. I refuse to let her risk her life like this after I went to so much trouble to save it, so I block her path to the elevator. My determination must have been reflected on my face, because her eyes harden and I can tell she's preparing herself for an argument. Even though trying to stop Yoruichi, once she's made up her mind, is more deadly than standing on the tracks when a train is coming, I still have to try. But before I can forbid her from going through with this idea, Chad steps in to defuse the situation.

"Yoruichi-sama, why didn't you use one of these yesterday?"

"Because I didn't have one at the time. For security reasons, you can only program one of these entrance keys from inside the facility you want it to open." She looks at me and I can tell that nothing I say will change her mind. She's determined to go through with this plan.

"We're wasting time, Ichigo. Do you want to stay here and chat? Or go and help Orihime?"

I step aside without a word. She enters the elevator, and Chad and I follow her. Once we reach the surface, Yoruichi once again takes the lead as we set off for the Ishida Hospital.

When we arrive at the hospital, it is ten a.m. At the entrance, Yoruichi gestures for me to take the lead. The attendant at the reception desk seems to recognize me from my previous visits. She smiles at me and nods her head toward the elevators. After we reach Orihime's floor, I set off down the hall toward her private room. It's not until I'm half-way there that the trouble begins.

Without any kind of a warning, Uryuu comes charging out of a side passage and slams me into the wall. He has my shirt bunched up in one hand, and the other forearm across my throat, pinning me against the wall. His anger must have given him strength, because he's holding me a good six inches off of the floor.

"Kurosaki!" he hisses in a voice filled with hatred. "I told you, that if I ever saw you here again, I _would _kill you."

I could easily force him to let me go, but if I start a fight with him, it will be that much harder to get his cooperation in helping Inoue. I look over at Chad and Yoruichi. Like always, Chad has my back.

"Ishida-san," he says in a calming voice, "please let Ichigo go. We are here because we think we have a way to save Orihime-san. But we can't do that if we are thrown out of the hospital for fighting."

As he says this, I notice the security guards approaching us from the nurses' station. Chad's words must have slowly sunk in, or maybe Ishida finally realized we weren't alone, because he lowers me to the floor. With one last shove against my throat, he backs away from me, glaring his hatred.

He waves the guards away without looking at them. They hesitate at first, but when he turns that grim stare on them, they immediately retreat.

"Kurosaki, you have exactly ten seconds to convince me as to why I shouldn't throw you out that window," he says with a gesture to the window at the end of the hall.

I glance in its direction. It's made of reinforced safety glass; it's designed not to break. I seriously doubt it would be possible for _anyone _to throw me through it. I'm just about to smirk and tell him this, until I take another look into his eyes. There is _so _much barely-contained rage that I feel a little shiver of apprehension. Maybe he _could _throw me through the window after all.

"Yoruichi was able to escape from her captivity in Soul Society," I rasp out. My throat still feels like it's being crushed. His eyes widen in surprise and he quickly looks over at her, perhaps noticing the identity of my companions for the first time. "She has some information, and a device, that may make it possible for us to help Orihime regain consciousness. We need to take a look at her first, though. If you will let us, that is."

I can see the hope and the hatred in his eyes, each battling for supremacy. After a moment, hope proves the stronger of the two emotions, because he growls out, "Very well, but at the slightest hint of you doing _anything_ to harm her, you will take your last breath."

As his warning still rings in the air, he spins on his heel and marches toward Orihime's room. Chad and Yoruichi trail behind him. With a quick cough to clear the choking sensation from my throat, and a deep breathe to calm my nerves, I follow after them.

When I enter the room, Yoruichi is already at Orihime's side. Ishida is facing Yoruichi from the other side of the bed. Chad is leaning against the wall in the corner. My attention is drawn to the steady beeping of the heart monitor. As long as that reassuring tone continues, there is hope.

Yoruichi finishes her examination of Orihime's vital signs, and makes eye contact with Ishida, who is nearly dancing in agitation.

"So what information is it that you have?" he demands. "What makes you think that you can wake her up?"

"Despite Kurotsuchi's best efforts, he was never able to understand or seal Orihime's powers. Whatever is causing her coma is psychological, not physical. I have a device that should let us wake her up, but there are dangers," Yoruichi cautions him.

I can see he's instantly suspicious, "What dangers? What kind of device do you want to use on her? Don't you have enough data already?"

He's so openly confrontational, that I'm surprised Yoruichi doesn't rearrange his face for him. Instead, she calmly replies, "This device doesn't measure anything. It allows the operator to send one person's conscious mind into the unconscious mind of someone else. In this case, Orhime's. The dangers are that whatever you experience in there is real. If you die while you are inside, your body will die out here. If something happens to Orihime, and her body dies while you are still inside, you will also die. And even though this device is designed to hold open a pathway between your conscious mind and your body, if that connection is ever broken, there is a very strong possibility that your mind will be lost forever."

"Oh, is _that_ all?" he asks scornfully, "Why should I even let you attempt this?"

This is apparently the last straw for Yoruichi. "Boy! I know you have suffered a great deal. However, you are not the only one to have suffered. You _will _speak to me with respect, or I will make it impossible for you to speak at all." Even though I can't sense reiatsu, I still feel the deadly intent roiling behind Yoruichi's comments.

Apparently Ishida senses it too, because he verbally retreats. "I am sorry for my tone, Yoruichi-san. However, I would still like an answer to my question."

She holds his gaze for several seconds before she seems satisfied. She continues, "You should allow this because it is the only solution we have. If we had more time we could try and find a less dangerous option. But we don't have that time, do we?" Ishida looks at the clock and then shakes his head 'no'.

Yoruichi sighs, "How much time do we have?"

"Just under five hours," he replies.

"Then we don't have time to waste. Are we going to do this or not?"

'_YES!_', I scream inside my head, but Uryuu is the one who has truly been there for Orihime. It should be his decision.

It takes him a while, but I can see his resolve as he straightens his posture.

"We do it."


	9. A Walk on the Wild Side

Persephonae has done her usual bang up job on this for me. My apologies for the delay in posting. Expect an extra long chapter in the next few days.

Chapter Nine – A Walk on the Wild Side

Most people run away from life-threatening situations, their instincts and behavioral programming tell them to save themselves by getting as far away from danger as possible. Confront them with even the tiniest amount of danger, and they run for the hills.

The group of us gathered in Orihime's hospital room--well, let's just say we're wired a little differently. Our reaction to danger is more along the lines of 'let's go hit it until it's not dangerous anymore'. So I guess it should come as no surprise what happened next.

"Who is going to enter Orihime's mind?" Yoruichi asks us.

"I am." Ishida and I speak up at the same time. We turn to glare at each other.

"Well then, which one of you is going?"

"Me." This time, the glares turn murderous, and the shouting begins.

"There's no way I'll let you near her!" Ishida growls as he moves between me and the bed.

"I _need_ to help her!"

"You're too stupid to understand anything you might encounter in her mind!"

"I know her history better than you do!"

"She's like this because of _YOU!" _he shouts at the same time I respond with "She's like this because of _ME_!"

Chad interrupts us before we come to blows.

"Quiet! Both of you! This is not helping Orihime-chan." It's rare for Chad to get angry. But when he does, people _listen._ Ishida and I are no exception.

"Now that I can hear myself think again," Yoruichi says into the silence, "it seems both of you have valid points. A familiarity with Orihime's past will likely give you a better chance of navigating her subconscious. On the other hand, being able to analyze what you find will increase your chances of success also... I take it neither of you are going to give in on this?" Both Uryuu and I give her a curt nod without breaking eye contact with each other. "Very well then, I have an alternative. But it will increase both the danger _and _the difficulty level, for everyone."

Ishida and I are still engaged in a staring contest, so it falls to Chad to get clarification. "Yoruichi-sama, what is your alternative plan?"

"It's quite simple, I'll send them both."

That comment captures my attention. I break eye contact with Ishida, not even caring that he starts smirking at what he assumes to be his victory in a battle of wills.

"Yoruichi, won't sending two people cause more of a strain on you? No. You can't do this. One person is risk enough, two would be insanity. I've… We've only just gotten you back. We can't lose you again." My voice cracks a little as I finish my statement. I turn away and face the wall. Did I really just almost say what I think I did?

"Ichigo."

I refuse to look at her.

Yoruichi walks over and places her hand on my shoulder. "Ichigo, look at me."

Against my will, brown eyes meet golden. She continues softly, "It means a great deal to me that you are so concerned about my welfare. But, this is something that needs to be done, and I am the only one who can do it right now. Orihime is our best chance of getting back into the fight. None of the ones who escaped with me came out unscathed from their time in captivity. We've lost most of our healers, and our enemies are stronger than we are. If we want to have even a small chance of standing against Yamamoto and the others, we need Orihime."

I can see the point she's trying to make, but I refuse to acknowledge the truth of it. Perhaps she senses that logic will not get through to me, because she changes tactics.

"When you went to Kisuke to regain you power as a Shinigami, why did you do it? On the surface you did it to save Rukia. But what was it that said _you_ had to be the one to rescue her? There were others with more power and ability who could have taken action. Why were _you_ the one who did?"

My throat is tight. I can't find the words to express the emotions she is asking me to describe. It seems she's gazing deep into the core of who I am, weighing all of my strengths and weaknesses.

"It was because you _had_ to, wasn't it? Despite the danger, despite the logic, despite even the fact that it should have been impossible. There was no room in you for anything other than the need to save your nakama." I nod jerkily and break eye contact. I am scared that if I don't look away, she will strip me bare of all my defenses, destroy all the barriers I have put up to protect myself from the things I've seen and felt.

"It is the same for me. I bear part of the responsibility for bringing Orihime to Soul Society's attention. But she is also the only hope we have right now. I _have_ to do this." She takes my chin in her hand, and gently forces me to look at her again. "And _you_ need to let me."

She gives my shoulder a squeeze and then returns to the side of the bed. My feelings are slipping out of my control. I don't know why or how Yoruichi was able to unlock the cage in which I've bottled up my emotions. Maybe it's just the stress of today's deadline adding to the guilt I feel for the suffering I've caused Orihime, Chad, and even Ishida. Whatever is causing this strain, I can't take much more of it or I'll probably break down in front of everyone.

I take a deep, shuddering breath and try to regain my focus. My fear for Yoruichi's welfare, my uncertainty about my family's fate, even my own fear of failing everyone, again--none of it matters right now. The only thing that has any importance right now is Orihime. I _will _save her. I _will_ be there for her this time. I _won't_ fail her again.

Of all the abilities and powers I once possessed, the only one I have remaining is my strength of Will. It is that will that now allows me to shove all my unstable emotions back down inside of me. And return to the others at Orihime's side.

While I'm regaining control of myself, Yoruichi opens the package she brought with her. Inside is something that bears resemblance to a Native American dream catcher, crossed with a high-tech fairy wand. The top of the device is a hoop made of glass, or plastic, four or five inches across. Inside the hoop, and connected to it by a lacing of copper wires, is a disk of rainbow-colored crystal. Extending downward ten to twelve inches from the hoop, is an inch-thick rod of wood with a basket hilt at the very end. Surrounding the rod, between the hilt and the hoop at the top, is a double helix made of white and black ribbons. The white ribbon has kanji symbols in black thread stitched into, and the black ribbon has the same symbols in white thread. Also in the package, is a box containing a dozen or so silver dollar-sized crystal disks. Each disk seems to have a tracery of rainbow-colored circuits embedded into it.

"What do we need to do, Yoruichi?" Now that I've agreed to let her do this, it makes no sense to waste any more time.

"First, we'll need chairs. Three of them: one each for you, me, and Ishida. Then, we will need someone to stand guard. Chad, that's your responsibility."

"I understand, Yoruichi-san." Ishida leaves the room, I'm guessing, to find the chairs we'll need.

"Ichigo, I want you to come help me." I approach and stand beside her. She hands me two of the disks.

"Place one of these on each side of Orihime's forehead just above the depression of her sinus cavities. They are self-adhesive."

While I place those two disks where she instructs me to, Yoruichi pushes aside enough of Orihime's blanket to place a third disk on the chakra point just below her navel. Once all three disks are in place, they briefly pulse with light, and then absorb into Orihime's skin--leaving no trace that they were ever there.

By this time, Ishida has returned with three folding chairs. He sets up two on one side of the bed and the other on the opposite side. Yoruichi gestures him over to her and places a disk on each side of his head and then motions for him to raise his shirt. When he does, she places a third in the same place as she had on Orihime. Once again, after all three are in place, the disks pulse and then disappear.

She then directs an impatient look my way. Without further prompting, I place two disks on my head and raise the bottom of my shirt. When she places the third disk, I can't help but exclaim: "Damn it Yoruichi! That's cold!"

"Shut up, you big baby," she tells me before she swats me on the back of my head. She then waves the wand thing across Orihime, Ishida, and me. It glows faintly as it passes over each of us.

"The disks will open the pathways between your minds and Orihime's. This controller," she gives the wand thing a little wave, "will let me move both of your conscious minds into Orihime. While you're inside, your bodies will appear to be sleeping. So I want each of you to sit on one side of Orihime and lean forward onto the bed. Hopefully anyone who comes in will just assume you're grieving."

We each take a seat. Ishida goes one step further and holds Inoue's hand.

"Chad, it is very important that you don't let anyone disconnect Orihime's life support before Ichigo and Ishida return to their bodies. I won't be able to help you because it will take all of my concentration to hold open the pathways back to their bodies."

"You can count on me." Chad's expression is grave. I feel confident that he won't let us down.

"I know we can Chad." She smiles at him. Yoruichi then takes her place in the third folding chair, which just happens to be next to me.

"Is everyone ready?" We all nod. "Then let's begin."

To my spirit-blind eyes, nothing seems to happen. But then I see the faintest vibration move up the ribbons of the wand and into the copper wires at the top. I can tell by their expressions that Chad and Ishida are both seeing something much more impressive. With a sound like a shop bell tinkling, the wires stop moving, and I feel a sudden sharp pull forward. The room goes black.

The next thing I know, I'm standing in a round, gray room. Fog billows around me. At first, I can't see anyone else, but then the fog clears and Ishida is standing in front of me and Yoruichi is to my right. Ishida has a silvery ribbon running from his navel to the wand held in Yoruichi's hands. I look down and notice that an identical ribbon runs from me also. I take another look at Yoruichi. She doesn't appear solid; her form is translucent and her feet are invisible.

"This is the gateway between the waking world and Orihime's sleeping mind. I will remain here to hold the gateway open. Once you wake Inoue, follow your spirit thread back here and I will return you to your bodies."

"Yoruichi, will you be alright alone here?"

"I'll be fine, Ichigo. But hurry! Even though time is compressed in the dream world, it's still passing in the waking world. I will hold the gateway open as long as I can. Now go." She points toward an archway in front of us. Either I didn't notice it before, or it has only now appeared. With a glance at each other, Ishida and I walk through the arch.

And everything changes.

The first thing I notice, after stepping through the doorway, is that everything has gone from gray and difficult to see to vividly colored and hard to look at. It's like Jim Henson, Walt Disney, and one of the Warner Brothers all got together, took LSD, and then tried to animate what they saw. Everywhere I look are lurid colors that cannot be named. Some colors are shades that shouldn't exist. On top of that, the scenery is strange. Distance and focus are mixed up in odd ways. Normally, the closer an object is to you the clearer it is. In here, however, objects in the distance can be clearly seen, but things close to us seem to waver in and out of focus, like they aren't completely real.

Whether it's the colors, the weird effect of objects seeming to fade in out of sight, or something caused by the shift into this mind-scape, it is making me dizzy and nauseous. It appears that Ishida is having the same reaction as I am, because he looks like he's about to vomit. I can tell I am correct, because within seconds, he turns away from me and retches.

When he turns away, I get my first good glimpse at the ribbon connecting his mental projection to his physical body. The silver band extends behind him for two or three feet, and then seems to fade out of sight. I check my thread, and it's doing the same thing. To experiment, I take a few steps around, examining the ribbon. It effortlessly follows me, never seeming to grow longer. But, when I grab a hold of it, I feel a definite pull in the direction from which we came. So apparently whenever we want to return to the gateway, all we have to do is grab a hold of the ribbon and go with the flow.

They say that you can grow accustomed to anything. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But, I'm apparently becoming adjusted to our surroundings because my nausea is going away. Just then, I remember that we only have a limited amount of time. The longer we take, the more likely it is that Yoruichi will hurt herself trying to hold the gateway open.

"Hey Uryuu! You gonna puke all day or can we get moving?"

"Shut up, Kurosaki! I'm here for Orihime, not to listen to you talk. And don't presume to call me by my first name."

"So Mr. _SO_ Smart, which way do we go?" He scowls at me and doesn't say anything.

"Perhaps I may be of assistance." A strange voice calls from behind me. I spin around and see the strangest sight of my life, even considering the fact that I'm standing in the middle of a Rorschach's drawing.

It's maybe four feet tall and looks like a yard gnome made out of cheese. It's wearing a giant mushroom covered in whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and anchovies--as a hat.

"Well, we're definitely in Orihime's mind," I snark.

The smell of the cheesy, fishy, sugary gnome is almost enough to make me blow chunks, but I'm able to control myself. It does, however, set Ishida off again. Pansy. When he finishes emptying the contents of his stomach, he spits a few times before joining us.

"So what are you?" Ishida asks. As if it's possible, he's even more snobby to this cheese-shroom guy than he is to me.

"I am your guide." I didn't notice it before, but this thing speaks in a weird six part harmony. Its voice is like several people speaking in unison.

"Why should we trust you? Where did you come from? How did you know that we were here?" Ishida is in rare form today, or maybe that's just how he is now. But he never used to be this much of an asshole.

"I serve the mistress. Trust me or not, it makes no difference to me. Only helping the mistress matters to me. However, you seem to be the best chance of helping the mistress. So I will guide you to her."

"Who is your mistress?" I can't let myself be completely left out of conversation.

"Kurosaki, you idiot! Whose mind are we in? Who would be the mistress of this place? Who would have a servant, that looks like him?" He gestures angrily at Shroomie. "Orihime, of course."

"He speaks truly. I serve the mistress. Now follow me." Without another word, it turns around and begins hopping away.

"Hey, wait! What do we call you?" I ask as I begin to follow it.

Without slowing down or stopping it calls back over its shoulder, still in that weird harmony. And says just one word: "Id."

I don't bother to look back to see if Uryuu is following us. The quicker this thing leads us to wherever it's going, the quicker I can save Orihime and get back to Yoruichi and Chad.

We follow this thing for what feels like hours, but, then again, I can't be sure how long it is, exactly. There's no sun or moon in this place--nothing to show the passage of time. And all of the scenery seems to be variations of the same crazy things. Weird mountains made out of ice cream with fish sauce, lakes of soy sauce with islands of marshmallows, trees and bushes that look like freakish crosses between animals and plants. In other words, things I would expect to find inside Orihime's imagination.

Even though we encounter multiple forms of strangeness, there are no living creatures other than the three of us. Maybe that's how it always is in someone's mental landscape. I mean, in my subconscious mind, it was just me, Zangetsu, and the hollow. Maybe the only ones who are supposed to be in your mind are aspects of yourself. But, if that's the case, who, exactly, is our guide?

Ishida is giving both of us the silent treatment. Either he is too wrapped up in his own thoughts, or he refuses to condescend enough to speak. Whatever the case, he finally breaks the silence.

"How much longer?"

"Soon, now," Id responds.

"How soon –" I begin. Without warning, what had been a level plain turns into an enormous bowl-shaped valley. In the middle of the depression is a large circus tent. Whereas most circus tents are a bright canvas, this one is dark. It seems to have a aura of malice, silently screaming 'Go Away!'. The only thing missing is a sign that says 'Trespassers will be Dismembered'.

"Wha-" I begin before Id cuts me off.

"Your destination is there," Id points toward the black canvas monstrosity in the valley. "Inside you will find the entrance to the last pathway. If you make it that far, follow the pathway to it's ending, and there rests my Mistress." He turns and faces Uryuu and me, directly, and snaps his fingers. "You will need these."

In less time than it takes to blink, a white bow appears in Ishida's right hand. A look of joy-filled wonder crosses his face. The next thing I notice is a weight on _my_ back. Looking over my shoulder, I see something truly amazing: a familiar cloth-wrapped hilt…

With a glad cry, I reach back to draw the sword...

The instant my hand touches the hilt, I can tell that something is wrong. I draw the sword anyway, just to confirm what I already know. It is surprisingly light. I make a few experimental swipes through the air to test its balance. Not bad, I think. If it weren't for one glaring flaw, it would be perfect. It's not Zangetsu.

To an outside observer, it would look exactly like the meat cleaver form of my Shikai. But, I know the truth. This sword is just metal; there's no spark of life in it. Zangetsu pulsed with life and sang in harmony with my will and desire. This sword is cold and still; it's empty. The only tune it evokes is one of bitter disappointment.

Judging by the look of defeat on Ishida's face, I can tell he has a similar problem. He may have a bow, but it's not a manifestation of his Quincy heritage. It is only a medieval tool of warfare. He looks at me and, just for a second, something passes between us. For that instant, I can swear I feel his pain and frustration, his self-hatred and fury at having lost the power to make a difference. I can feel each of those things like someone had placed the mirror image of my soul in his eyes. And he sees the same in mine…

And then it is over. Anger replaces understanding, and Ishida abruptly turns away. The moment of connection we just shared, the brief return to our time as comrades-in-arms--whatever it was--it isn't enough to heal the breach between us.

I look around for Id, but he's disappeared. Well, so much for our guide. I guess we do the rest by ourselves.

"So Ishida, why do I have a sword and you have that bow?"

"It's relatively easy to grasp, Kurosaki. Orihime's sub-conscious believes we need them. And we have imitations of our former weapons because that is how Orihime sees us in her mind." Is it my imagination or is he less antagonistic than he was before?

"Ok, I get that. Something in here wants us armed, but what good would weapons do us? What are we gonna find to fight in here? And even if we do find something, and fight it, what good would that do for Orihime? It's not like if we kill something in here it dies." I swing my hand in a broad sweeping gesture, "All this stuff is imaginary."

"Perhaps, but on some level Orihime is aware of our presence and directed us here. And _she_ believes we can have an effect on her, and that very belief means that we _can_."

"So you're saying that Orihime wants to wake up?"

"On some level, yes."

"Good enough for me. You ready yet?" I ask as I start walking down the hill.

"WHO SAID YOU GET TO LEAD!!" He screams after me as he rushes to catch up. He falls silent as we walk down the hill, side by side. Toward what, exactly, I have no clue. But it feels like old times. And for that, I have to smile.


	10. The Heart of Darkness

Once again gentle readers, you owe a debt of thanks to Persephonae for making this legible. Thanks to those special folks who have taken the time to review. And a thank you as well to everyone else who has invested a portion of their lives to read this. Here is chapter Ten. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Ten – The Heart of Darkness

We make it to the bottom of the hill with no problems. But, as we approach the circus tent, the atmosphere changes. Thus far in our travels through Orihime's imagination, the feeling has been lighthearted and silly, but not anymore. Here, the very ground seems to exude a sense of dark malice. Whatever it is that is trapping Inoue in her own mind, it's nearby, and it knows we're coming.

"Ishida, you have any idea what we'll find in that tent?" He jumps a little, apparently the evil aura of this place has him on edge, too.

"Judging by its resemblance to a circus tent, we'll likely find remnants of childhood fears in there. Or, it is also possible that this is the combined location of everything that is dark and evil in Orihime. It could even be a construct from an outside source. Whatever has created this place, expect to face the unexpected."

"Right. You know you could have just said you have no clue." He smirks at my exasperated tone.

We pause when we are still fifty feet or so away from the entrance. The place seems to loom over us, even at this distance. The sides of the tent boom and billow like they're caught in a high wind, but there's not even a slight breeze to cause it.

"So Ishida, sneak in, or right up the middle?"

"I'm shocked, Kurosaki! I thought blindly charging in was the only battle strategy that you knew existed."

"Shut up, dumbass. Do _you_ have a better idea?"

He shakes his head, once, in a curt 'no'.

"Alright then. You want to go first?"

"And rob you of the chance to glory seek, Kurosaki? I wouldn't dream of it." This time it's back to the heavy sarcasm. I place my hand on the imitation Zangestu, and advance the rest of the way to the tent opening. The last five feet was the most unnerving. With each step, the ground shuddered and quaked, and the tent's support ropes thrummed and groaned.

I hesitate a bit before reaching for the tent flap with my free hand. But then I remind myself as to why I'm here: friendship, loyalty, responsibility--instantly my resolve strengthens and I pull back the flap.

I peer into the gloomy darkness, trying to catch a glimpse of what may be waiting for us. Ishida comes to a halt behind me.

"Let's go."

With those words I step into the gloom. Ishida follows soon after, and releases the tent flap. What little light had penetrated from outside is quickly extinguished, and we are plunged into darkness. Faint, eerie sounds drift out of the darkness: scuffing sounds reminiscent of something large being dragged across the floor, whispers of cloth moving, ominous creaking noises. All of these noises seem to come close to us and then fade away into the distance. Gradually, my eyes adjust to the blackness and I can make out a little bit of our surroundings. The inside of the tent is not completely dark. Instead, it's dimly lit with a dull red glow that reveals the space around us for ten to twelve feet, casting the rest of the interior in concealing shadows.

We advance slowly toward the middle of the tent, both of us filled with tense anticipation. Thus far, we haven't encountered any resistance, but I don't think either of us expect that to last much longer.

Just as we reach the center of the tent, the darkness all around us erupts in demonic laughter, and a sickening feeling of dread lodges itself in my gut as I realize _why_ we made it so far unopposed. Whatever is in here, it was waiting until we reached the farthest point from any possible escape before it launched its attack.

As soon as that realization dawns, the first of our opponents come racing out of the shadows. I only have a second to get a glimpse of what we face. Individually, they appear insignificant: each one a large spider-like creature the size of a fat chihuahua. In endless waves, they scuttle toward us on dozens of razor sharp legs, fangs on either side of their heads drip with saliva. On each one's back is a gruesome caricature of a face in white and black.

With a defiant shout, I draw my sword and begin to slash away at our enemies. Each spider creature is finished easily, even a glancing blow sends a broken body flying away into the darkness. The problem is that there seems to be thousands of them. At first, I'm clumsy with my swings, but after only a few slashes, my body begins to remember the flow of attacks and blocks. With each slice, a little of my zanjutsu comes back to me. I may not have the same speed and strength I once possessed, but human level abilities are sufficient for this incredibly light sword. Soon, I'm slicing through three or four of these things with each swing of my sword. I'm even able to swipe them out of the air, mid-leap.

I hear a muffled cry from behind me. _Ishida!_ I whirl around to discover that Uryuu isn't doing as well as me. He's covered in these things. I can see bloody scratches all over his body, but, fortunately, it appears that he's not seriously injured. _Not_ _yet,_ at least.

I rush over to him and begin killing the creatures covering him. It's made more difficult by the fact that I have to keep fresh ones off of both of us as I do so. Finally, he's free of the vermin. Ishida is still standing and doing his best to beat down new enemies by using his bow as a staff. The blood and gore on his bow, and the pile of crushed bodies surrounding him, show that he put up a good fight before being overrun. For another minute or two, we fight together, each protecting the other's blind spot. Finally, the waves of enemies slow to a trickle, eventually stopping completely.

Ishida slumps to his knees and struggles to catch his breath. I lean on my sword breathing hard myself. We've been fighting constantly for nearly fifteen minutes. It doesn't sound like long, but between the adrenaline and the physical exertion, we're both beat.

After a few precious seconds of rest, I hear Ishida grudgingly grind out, "Thank you."

"You should! Why the hell are you using your bow like a club? I thought you were a Quincy, not a softball wannabe."

"In case you didn't notice, I don't have any arrows." He might be completely exhausted, but his snide comments apparently have an independent fuel source.

"Idiot! You're the one who said that we have weapons because something in this place wants us to. You never needed arrows before, you created them on the spot."

"In case you're too stupid to remember, I no longer have my powers. How am I supposed to create arrows?"

"We're in Orihime's _imagination_! _Pretend_ you have arrows!" I shout at him.

For a second, he has a disbelieving look on his face. Then, he rises to his feet, scowling at me the entire time. Once fully upright, he takes his bow in his right hand, and sighting toward one of our fallen enemies, he uses his left hand to draw back an imaginary arrow. When he pantomimes releasing it, both of us are a little surprised to see a sputtering blue arrow fire from his bow. It fades out of existence before reaching halfway to his target, however.

"Is that the best you got?" I challenge him.

He glares at me and then pretends to pull back another arrow. This time there is a faint line of power extending from the arrow rest to the string in his left hand. When he releases the second time, the arrow doesn't flicker as much, and it nearly makes it the entire distance.

I fake a yawn and tell him "Boorring."

Whether it's his anger at my mocking, or his own growing confidence, the third time he draws back his hand there is a vivid blue, sizzling arrow of energy formed. When he releases this one, it leaves a trail of light behind it as it races to its target.

A look of pride settles onto his face. It seems he has recovered his belief in his own abilities. And none too soon, for another wave swarms out of the darkness.

This time there are two groups of enemies. The same spider things from before come racing across the ground, but now they are supplemented by an aerial assault.

What appear to be flying medical instruments begin to swoop down out of the low ceiling of darkness. Ishida immediately turns his attention to the assortment of scalpels, needles, saws, drills, and other tools—that look as if they come from a horror movie. There seems to be a constant blur of blue light flowing from his bow as he fires relentlessly into the cloud of enemies. His task is made almost impossible by the fact that he has only a fraction of a second between the time the objects appear out of the darkness and the arrows striking into our bodies.

If he was any less of an archer, we would already be lifeless pincushions. I don't have much time for thought as I struggle to keep the ground attack off of us while not blocking his view of the sky. We fight for another few minutes, slowly getting into a rhythm of attacks. I circle around Ishida, performing a wild dance of death, while he sends a constant stream of arrows into the air just above our heads.

This time, we don't have a break between waves, as new enemies are being introduced into the attack. Without any prior warning, clown-faced flying harpies armored in dirty, stained lab coats begin swarming from the sky. They seem to shrug off arrows to the chest without any damage. So, Ishida begins aiming for their heads. I have enough time to notice that it takes at least two arrows to the head to kill each one before I'm occupied with my own upgraded distractions.

Clowns of assorted sizes come screaming out of the darkness toward us, ranging from midgets with axes to nine-foot-tall giants with enormous war hammers. All of them bear the same evil visage. With a white face, heavy eye-shadow, and an Egyptian-style headdress and chin adornment, the appearance of these minions is a horrifyingly familiar one: _Kurotsuchi!_

That explains a lot about the type of enemies we are up against. If this place represents the chains holding Orihime's mind captive, then her fear of the sadistic clown must be her jailor.

"Hey Ishida, notice anything special about these guys?" An arrow suddenly whizzes toward my head. I jerk aside and the arrow impales the eye socket of a mace wielding giant behind me.

"Pay attention to what you're doing, Kurosaki." With that rebuke, I return my full attention to the fight-at-hand. My own opponents are proving as stubborn as Ishida's, each of the killer clowns from imagination-land take multiple blows before falling. Remove their arms or legs, and they keep coming. A stab through the heart does nothing but make it difficult to retrieve my sword. The only thing, besides complete dismemberment, that seems to stop them is a beheading.

After God-knows-how-many waves of enemies, the attacks slow and then stop. Toward the end, new attackers were forced to crawl over mounds of their own dead to reach us. Without that minor advantage, I don't think we would have survived. As it is, both of us are covered from head to toe in blood and gore, and a disturbing amount of the blood is our own.

As we sit back-to-back on the sticky ground with piles of the dead surrounding us, a light appears for the first time since we entered this hell. To my right, at the opposite side of the tent from which we entered, is a pool of white light. It isn't a warm, inviting glow, but, rather, it feels like a spotlight in an interrogation room. At the back edge of the light is a stone archway. That must be the final passageway our guide spoke of.

Unfortunately, between us and the archway stands one last obstacle: a fifteen-foot-tall representation of the evil clown bastard himself. With a katana in his right hand and a sinewy cord stretching from his left ear to a bony hook in his left hand, he shadows over the pathway to Orihime.

"Hey Ishida?"

"What do you want, Kurosaki?" His head is down and, judging by his tone, he hasn't noticed our newest guest yet.

"You up for one last round?" When my words sink in, his head jerks upright and he quickly scans the room. When his eyes settle on the monstrosity, he leaps to his feet, all of his weariness shedding like discarded clothing.

"For that opponent? Yes." His words are even more hate-filled than when he confronted me in the hospital hallway. A fierce, dark hunger emanates from him as he climbs the piles of bodies between him and his goal.

I struggle to my feet as quickly as I can and follow him. He's going to need my help. His rage may be fueling his second wind, but it won't last for long.

****

The situation in Orihime's hospital room is a tense one. The bodies of Uryuu and Ichigo are still slumped in the chairs on either side of Inoue's bed; Yoruichi still sits in her chair, her eyes closed tight in concentration and her hands maintaining a death grip around the control wand. Chad maintains his silent guard over his friends. His eyes move in a steady pattern, first to Orihime, then to Ichigo and Uryuu, next to Yoruichi, and finally to the clock on the wall. To an outside observer, everything is as peaceful and quiet as the grave. Inside Chad's mind, however, a whirlwind of thoughts are flying.

'What is taking them so long?' Chad wonders, as he looks at the clock, again. 'They've been gone for over four hours.'

Next, Chad turns his concerned gaze to Yoruichi. 'She doesn't look well. All the color has washed out of her face. And judging by her clenched jaw and white knuckles, it's taking all her will and concentration to keep that device active. I do not know how much longer Yoruichi-san will be able to maintain this effort.'

Just then, one of the nursing staff makes an appearance. "Sir. The doctor will be in at three to perform the procedure and call the time of death." Chad snorts to himself in bitter humor. 'Perform the procedure? Such a sterile term for the murder of my friend.'

"Ah, Sir? Did you understand me?" Chad didn't reply, he just stands up to his full height and stares at the nurse. She shrinks away from his presence, before making an excuse to leave.

"I, ah, need to finish my rounds." She stutters out before making a hasty exit. Chad knows she would be back, probably with doctors and orderlies as backup. Chad doesn't care. He will do whatever was necessary to buy his friends the time they need.

Suddenly, Yoruichi lets out a small, weak moan. Her grip seems to falter for a moment, but before the controller can slip through her fingers, her hands clench tightly closed once more--though her breathing is now raspy and labored.

An observer unfamiliar with the stoic youth would assume that witnessing Yoruichi's momentary weakness had no affect on him. But that person would be wrong. His eyes tell the true story, Chad's being eaten alive by fear and uncertainty. 'Please hurry, Ichigo. I fear that time is running out, for all of us.'

****

"Ishida, wait! Don't we need some kind of a plan?"

"I have a plan. I'm going to put an arrow through the heart of that clown bastard, and then go find Orihime." Wow, talk about your role reversals, now it's _Ishida_ who wants to charge in while _I'm_ suggesting we make a plan. But, the fact that there seems to be only one opponent has me worried. Thus far, each type of opponent has been progressively tougher, so there must be more to this one than just its huge size.

Just then, Ishida reaches a point about twenty yards away from the behemoth. He takes a stance--his legs wide apart for balance--and draws his bow. He holds the stance for a long time, all the while energy is coalescing and solidifying around his arrow. Once he finally fires his shot, the projectile looks more like a spear than an arrow. It flies straight and true toward the center of the clone's body.

Gigantor stands motionless. He doesn't even seem to notice his danger. I wonder if this may actually work. There is an incredible amount of power in Ishida's attack. Could it really be this easy?

At the last possible instant, Gigantor's katana moves—its movement a blur. The maneuver intercepts the attack, deflecting Ishida's arrow. What was I thinking? _Of course_ this won't be easy! In addition to its size, this thing is hellaciously fast.

"So what's Plan B, Ishida?" He hesitates for a moment. Apparently he's as disturbed by the unexpected speed of our opponent as I am.

"Simple. You hit him low and I'll hit him high." Is there a hint of friendly challenge in his tone?

"Great plan. But, do you have one that doesn't involve me getting in range of that big ass sword?"

"I thought you liked charging forward against superior opponents, Kurosaki?" There it is again; it's definitely not my imagination. Could fighting on the same side, once more, cause him to get over his grudge?

"I'm beginning to think that's overrated. How about you distract him and I'll go find Orihime?" He instantly stiffens. Oh crap. Whatever flimsy bridges we were building, I get the impression they just went up in flames. When am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?

"Plan B it is, then." I advance slowly toward Gigantor, angling my approach to place me on his left side rather than directly in front of him. As I get closer, he turns to face me directly. That's interesting, apparently he will focus on the closest threat. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. To test my theory I continue to circle around Gigantor, moving to my right. Once again, he pivots to keep me in range of his sword. Perfect.

I keep him turning until he is facing away from Ishida. Now if Uryuu has been thinking along the same lines as me…

And there it is. I catch a glimpse of a blue flash from behind Gigantor. It's unsporting to attack an enemy from the rear, but I think we'll be forgiven for making an exception in this case. I advance a step toward the enormous brute. Hopefully that will keep his attention on me long enough for Ishida's attack to connect.

Just about now…

Once again, before the strike lands home, Gigantor's sword moves in a blur. This time, however, it whirls up behind his back to swipe away Ishida's arrow.

Crap! Not only is this thing big and fast, but its got eyes in the back of its head.

Apparently, the warm-up rounds are over. Because all of a sudden, Gigantor begins to spin the scythe in his left hand by its sinewy cord

Without warning, he stops spinning the scythe to swing it in a wide arc. It heads directly toward me. I narrowly manage to duck underneath it as it whistles by. While I'm ducking, Ishida releases a volley of arrows. Gigantor blocks each one with his sword.

After several sweeping attacks, the monster unexpectedly, retracts his scythe and launches it straight toward me. I manage to get my sword up in time to block the blow, but the impact sends me flying.

"Kuroaski, you need to close the range. I can't do anything while that sword is free to block my attacks."

I stagger to my feet. "Easy for you to say. This thing is stronger and faster than I am."

While I am out of commission, Gigantor turns his ranged attack on Ishida, who deflects the incoming attacks with arrows. It seems that he's approaching his limit, as each strike gets closer to reaching him.

"Why don't you _pretend_ that you're as strong and fast as he is." Why that sanctimonious prick! Throwing my words back at me like that. But…

Could he be correct? Is my lack of belief in myself the only thing holding me back in this place?

I guess there's only one way to find out. While Gigantor is still facing Ishida, I charge in as fast as I can. He senses my approach and whirls to face me, his scythe flying in a low arc toward my knees. I dive forward over the attack and then roll back to my feet. Without slowing down, I continue my attack run.

His sword stabs out to impale me, but I twist so that the blade slides harmlessly past my ribs. Now that I'm inside his guard, I launch a flurry of attacks at his knees and waist. But, it is to no avail. My attacks bounce off like bugs hitting a windshield. They don't even leave a scratch. Just then, the katana slashes toward me parallel with Gigantor's body. I leap backward, barely in time, and I feel the wind of its passage whistle past my face.

A series of strikes too fast to follow come stabbing toward me. I only survive by falling backward as fast as I can. Come on Ichigo, pretend! No, _believe_ you are faster. If you have more power you can win.

I tell myself: 'I am Strong. I am Powerful. I am INVINCIBLE!'

The next attack comes sweeping toward my head in a downward chop. I arrogantly bring my blade up to intercept, and I'm hurled to the ground by the impact.

It's no use. I can't even pretend I have power anymore...

But, maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. Despite what people may say, I was never really obsessed with power. Power was a means to an end. I wanted to be stronger to protect my friends. So imagining myself as stronger and faster won't work.

_Why do I need this power?_

I need to focus on _why_ I need to be stronger and faster. Forget about wanting power, _why_ do I need power?

_What am I?_

Am I a coward? Am I someone who gives up in the face of overwhelming odds? Am I someone who will abandon my friends just because standing beside them is difficult?

No!

_Who am I?_

I am Kurosaki Ichigo.

I am a Protector.

I feel a tide of power swelling up inside of me. What is this feeling? It's not the cool orderly force of my Shinigami powers, nor is it the searing chaotic flash of power I received from my inner Hollow.

This is something completely different… and yet it's somehow familiar. It feels like standing in front of a cheerful fire on a freezing cold night, like an oasis in the middle of a desert. I know I've felt this power before. But where?

And then I remember: the night I fought a hollow to save Yoruichi. It's the brief surge of power I felt when I resolved to protect or die trying; this energy is the same. I know what this power is; I have always known. It is the one strength that can never be taken from me. It is the source of all my previous victories.

This is my _Will. _

And _nothing_ is going to stop me from saving my friends, least of all this oversized reject from a dunk tank.

My resolve crystallizes, and I stop backing away from Gigantor's attacks. Despite focusing enough on me to force my retreat, Gigantor has also been keeping Ishida busy with attacks from his scythe.

That changes _now. _

I still can't see any of the giant's attacks; I'm dodging and blocking by instinct. There's no way I can defend against everything he's throwing at me.

Fine then, I'll only block what I can.

I ignore anything that won't be instantly fatal. The secondary attacks coming at me from the sides can be ignored so that can I focus all of my attention on the strikes that will reach my head or torso. I pick up numerous cuts along my arms and legs, but I lean into the attacks and force my way forward a step.

Now that I'm only focusing on the area in front of me I can see some of the attacks. I can block and deflect with skill instead of blindly flailing. I advance another foot.

The slashes and jabs coming at me seem to be slowing down. I can sense and feel some of the attacks darting around my sides, so I block them too. And I grind forward another step.

I can clearly see all the sword attacks directed at me now. But the power of them is still crushing.

Who cares?

With each block and parry, I angle my sword and body to divert most of the force of each blow away from me. Each impact still rattles the fillings in my teeth. But I keep standing. And power forward another step.

Gigantor now brings his scythe to bear on me in addition to his sword. It comes screaming towards me, the very air crying out in agony at its passing.

Big Whoop.

I free one hand from my sword hilt and bat the flying sickle away like it's an insect. In the background I see Ishida launching strikes against Gigantor's back and sides. Now that I'm drawing all of the ogre's attention, Ishida's arrows begin to find their mark. I slip forward another step.

Now, I'm right on the edge of the giant's reach, too close for him to effectively use his sword. His scythe is not a threat anymore. With a scream of rage, he flings away his katana and tries to catch me in a crushing embrace.

I drop my own sword and grab one of Gigantor's hands in each of mine. We struggle and strain against one another. Each of us trying to force the other to submit, but _my_ will is stronger.

With a popping sound I give a final strain and bend back the giant's hands. That forces the beast to drop to its knees, or have both of its wrists broken.

"Now, Ishida! Cut out the bastard's heart!"

"With pleasure."

From behind me, I hear a sizzling noise like a sparking high voltage line. The shadows in the room are all washed away by a blinding blue sun. With a cry of triumph, Ishida releases his arrow. If it had not been launched from behind me, I'm sure the flash would have blinded me for life. When the arrow passes over me, it singes my hair and causes sparks in my vision. The hands that have been straining against me go limp. When my vision clears, I see a hole the size of a basketball hoop burned clean through the center of Gigantor's corpse. I release my grip, and painfully climb to my feet. Only now do I finally take notice of the myriad of gashes covering my body and the muscles screaming in pain from their abuse.

"Now _that's_ an arrow!" I exclaim, while looking around for Ishida. I finally spot him lying flat on the ground about thirty feet away. I slowly limp over to him.

"What took you so long, Kurosaki? It took you forever to stop blocking my shots."

I slump to the ground close to him. "Screw you, Uryuu. Screw You."


	11. Sleeping Hime

**Here is the conclusion to the 'Sleeping Princess' story arc. Stay tune for the next arc 'Rearming for Battle'. Once again thank you to all who have reviewed. And remember, if you don't like it.... blame Persephonae ;D.**

Chapter Eleven – Sleeping Hime

_Time._

_It's our most valuable commodity--something so important that we divide it into increments to keep track of how we spend it. We count it in every way possible: years, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds, and even fractions of seconds. For Orihime Inoue, time is running out._

**_2:55 PM - Hospital Room_**

Yasutora Sado continues to loyally stand guard over his friends, though even _his_ legendary patience is wearing thin. He can hear the doctors and nurses gathering like vultures in the hallway outside. Their low-pitched conversation comes through the closed door in bits and pieces.

"…coma for over three months…"

"…No discernible brain activity…"

"…chances of waking up…slim to none."

'Those people know nothing. Ichigo and Uryuu will definitely save Orihime. And I will buy them whatever time they need.' Chad reassures himself as he worriedly glances at the clock.

The nearly five hours of lonely, silent vigil have taken their toll on him. His normally impassive demeanor is beginning to crack, and his concern for his friends burns clearly in his eyes. His worry is heightened by the fact that Yoruichi is visibly weakening. In the past few minutes, she has started to shiver violently; her cheeks have sunken into her face, and she has developed deep bags under her eyes. Currently, she bears more of a resemblance to an animated corpse than to a person.

To Chad's eyes and spirit senses, her usual vibrant flame has dwindled to a flickering spark. 'Please be safe my friends. Please don't leave me behind.' Chad sends out his thoughts in a silent plea.

Just then, the last flickering pinprick of spirit energy Yoruichi possessed dies out completely. The stream of reiatsu that had been flowing from her into the control rod sputters to a halt. She falls forward out of her chair, lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

The rainbow glow that had been emitting from the wand-like controller fades away completely.

"No." The word comes softly out of Chad's mouth, but it erupts into the silence of the room with all the power of an explosion.

Without warning, powerful dark bolts of energy begin to fly outward from Yoruichi, shooting into everything around her. Even though the bolts miraculously avoid striking Chad or the room's other human occupants, nothing else is spared. Waves of black lightning sweep across everything, leaving trails of scorch marks on the walls and ceiling. An arc of energy blasts out from Yoruichi, flinging the chair she had been sitting on into Chad, knocking him to the ground. Her body rises into the air, supported by a column of dark purple lightning. Her head continues to hang limply onto her chest.

'What is this power?' Chad asks himself as he pushes the chair away. 'And why does it feel like a hollow's?'

The amount of spirit energy in the room builds until it can no longer be contained. Churning, sizzling, fighting for release, the energy finally finds a way to escape; directly into Orihime's life support machinery. With a whine of tortured components, the capacitors in the equipment blow and the devices sizzle before they go dark. Down the hall in the nurse's station, alarm bells begin to bleep and whoop. That only lasts for a heartbeat before the power grid for the entire floor is overloaded. All the lights go out, to be replaced by the dim glow of emergency lamps.

For a few seconds, everything is dark. The backup generators kick on, restoring power to the vital equipment. The lighting comes back on, but only at dim levels. Out in the hallway, hospital personnel can be heard running back and forth, calling to each other as they check on the patients.

Suddenly, Yoruichi's head jerks upright and her eyes open to reveal solid yellow orbs glowing with madness.

"Yoruchi! You have to wake up and get a hold on yourself!" Chad yells at her as he shifts onto his knees before climbing to his feet.

Her head sweeps toward the sound of his voice like a gun turret. Her arm rises to point at him, the energy coiling and thickening around her hand, as if in preparation of a strike.

"Yoruichi! Please! You'll kill them if you don't stop!" He cries out to her.

Something in her seems to acknowledge his words, because the bolt of energy sizzling around her hand doesn't fire. Her hand drops to her side, and Yoruichi lets out an animalistic howl. She shakes and writhes as if there is a battle raging inside her, multiple forces fighting for control of her body. After a few seconds, that feel more like hours, Yoruichi's eyes begin to clear. The yellow fades out of the whites of her eyes, leaving her normal, golden irises. The wild energy around her begins to subside, and her body slowly drifts down to the floor.

"Yoruichi? What about Ichigo and Uryuu..." Chad asks with a worried nod in the direction of the controller that is laying on the floor.

Yoruichi eyes widen in fear as she follows his gaze toward the indicated object. With the waves of energy still surging and ebbing around her, she bends over to pick up the remote. Amazingly, the controller is once again glowing and humming with life. Apparently the excessive amount of reiatsu spiraling out of control in the room was enough to temporarily power the device.

"It's still active," Yoruichi says out loud, to herself. The relief is easily heard.

With a final pulse, the wild discharge of power around Yoruichi appears to be contained, though her reiatsu still simmers darkly. It tastes more like a hollow's, than a Vizard's or a Shinigami's.

"Are they… Are they alright?" Chad asks her, the fear causing his voice to tremble.

Yoruichi glances at the two men slumped beside the bed, and then at Orihime. With a cry, she rushes to Orihime's side and checks for a pulse. After a moment, her eyes meet Chad's. The expression in them is bleak.

"Yoruichi-sama, what's wrong?"

"Ichigo and Ishida's minds are still alive and active," she gestures toward the blackened medical equipment. "But, there is no life support for Orihime. If they can't wake her and return to their bodies in the next minute or two before her brain dies, I fear they will be lost… forever."

_**Orihime's Mindscape**_

Ishida and I are still resting on the floor of the tent when, unexpectedly, things change. First, the bodies of our fallen enemies dissolve into thin air. Then, the tent above us disappears. We sit there stunned at the abrupt change, until Uryuu brings something to my attention.

Waving a hand toward where we entered the valley, he asks, "Kurosaki, does the scenery over there look unusual to you?"

"More unusual than what we've already seen?" I ask with a laugh, as I look to where he's indicating. The laughter dies in my throat as the importance of what I'm seeing becomes evident. Looking toward the valley entrance, we can see that something horrible is happening.

The sky, the plants--even the ground, are vanishing like the bodies of our fallen enemies did moments ago. And they are not simply disappearing. Instead, they are being consumed by something. The very fabric of Orihime's mind is being pulled into tiny pieces--which then vanish into a dark emptiness. This darkness isn't just the absence of light; it has a hungry quality to it. It also feels oddly familiar.

"That is very strange. It looks like Orihime's mind is being shredded into nothingness." Ishida's words pull me out of my musings. Then, I realize why this darkness feels familiar: it reminds me of death and the grave. This dissolving mindscape is similar to what happened when Urahara helped me to find my Shinigami powers.

In a flash, I know what's occurring: Orihime is dying!

"We've got to move, Ishida! We're out of time!" I stand up as quickly as I can, and reach over to give Uryuu a hand getting to his feet.

As we run toward the stone archway, the ground beneath us starts to shake violently. Both of us stumble, but we manage to stay on our feet as we hurtle toward the tunnel entrance. Behind us, the nothingness is gaining.

Once we pass beneath the arch, I can see a long, twisting stone tunnel stretching before us. Without warning, Ishida crashes into my side. A stalactite dislodged by the earthquake crashes into the space we were just occupying. This time, Ishida is the first to his feet.

As he gives me a hand, he tells me: "Stop napping, Kurosaki! We have to find Orihime"

We take off, side-by-side through the tunnel, with the dissolution of Orihime's mind gaining on us.

After what feels like hours, we finally reach the end of the tunnel and emerge into a huge cavern. Once we leave the tunnel, the earthquakes and the disintegration that is following us inexplicably stop. It's like something in this place is holding it at bay. In front of us is a cavern filled with a series of stalactites and stalagmites in every color imaginable--some more examples of colors that shouldn't ever be seen. Near the middle of the cavern is an open area, inside the open area is a large pool of molten lava. Floating in the middle of that pool is an island of stone. The only access to the island appears to be a narrow stone bridge on the side that is closest to us. In the center of the island resides a golden pyramid. Inside the pyramid, I can barely make out a glowing oval of energy. Floating inside the oval is a sleeping Orihime.

Both Ishida and I take off running toward the bridge. Once we reached the open space--but before we can get close to the bridge--we are knocked off our feet by a fiery red trail of light. The glowing light resolves itself into a small, crimson flying object. It's Tsubaki, one of Orihime's guardian fairies. Ishida and I climb to our feet and try to once again approach the island. Like the first time, we are attacked and knocked off our feet by the tiny form.

"Tsubaki what are you doing? We're here to help Orihime. You need to let us get to her, we don't have much time!" I tell him.

He replies in the same six-part harmony that our guide from earlier had used. "Only one may pass to attempt the tests of worthiness."

I respond: "What do you mean, 'the tests of worthiness'? We've already had to fight all those clown things! Haven't we done enough already?"

He flies to hover in front of our faces, and continues like he didn't hear a word I said, "To reach the Princess. You must first complete four tests of worthiness. Only one of you may compete. If you both attempt to take the tests, you will both be killed. If you attempt the tests and cannot pass them, you will be killed. If you do not successfully complete the tests the Mistress will remain trapped here forever. Which of you will attempt the tests?"

"What is the nature of the tests?" Ishida asks as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"The first is courage, the second is wisdom, and the third is will. The nature of the final test, you must determine on your own. Each test will be administered by us, the Guardians. I am the gatekeeper and the first test."

"I'll do it," I volunteer.

"No you don't, Kurosaki, I'll be the one to rescue Inoue." I can hear the determination in his voice, but I didn't come all this way to fail Orihime again. I need to be the one to rescue her.

"You heard what he said, Ishida. If you try it and fail, you die. I'm not letting you take that risk."

"No! You cannot stop me. You heard Tsubaki describe the tests. One of the tests is of wisdom, you have no hope of passing that one. _And_ you have no chance of figuring out what the secret fourth test is._I _will be going."

"Look, Ishida, I understand that you want to rescue Orihime, but I _need_ to do this. I need to prove to myself that I don't always let my friends down."

Uryuu gets right up in my face and growls out, "I don't care what you think _you_ need Kurosaki! Who cares about _you_? Inoue, needs the person who will provide her the best chance, and, let's face it, Kurosaki, you are no one's best chance. I _refuse _to place her chances of survival in _your_ hands."

With that, he shoves me hard in the chest, and I trip and fall on my ass. Apparently, we haven't worked through as many of our issues as I'd hoped. While I'm still sitting there, he turns and sets off toward the bridge. I quickly rise to my feet and chase after him.

"Ishida, wait!" I cry out to him, racing to catch up. He's already halfway across the bridge when I first set foot onto it. As soon as my foot touches the bridge, I hear a scream of fury from Tsubaki.

"Only one may compete!" He screeches and flies directly towards Ishida. I've seen what a determined Tsubaki can do to a hollow. He'll punch clean through Ishida!

"Ishida, NO!!"

Ishida turns around and slows down when he hears Tsubaki scream, so I'm able to close the distance between us before Tsubaki attacks. I throw myself in between Tsubaki and Ishida, pushing Uryuu out of the way of the attack. I feel a stabbing sensation in my back, followed almost instantly by a ripping pain in my chest accompanied by a sizzling noise like butter dropped into a hot skillet…

How? How did I end up on the ground? And why is it so hard to breathe?

"Ichigo!" Ishida screams, picking himself up off the ground and running to my side. Once there, he drops to his knees next to me.

"Why did you do that?" he sobs. Tears from Ishida? For _me_?

I struggle to get enough of a breath to answer him. "Because I had to. I will not let any more friends die for me--" I break out into fit of coughing and choking. I think my lungs are filling with blood.

I wheeze out one final statement, "Save her, save… Orihime!"

Then everything goes black.

**_2:57 PM Hospital Room_**

The doctors and nurses finally make their appearance in Orihime's room. Perhaps they have delayed, hoping the power outage will have taken the burden of unhooking Inoue's life support out of their hands. Or maybe they just feel that the hospital patients not in comas were a higher priority. Either way, there is a commotion when the staff enter the room.

The male doctor, who enters the room first, is the loudest. "Dear god! What in the hell happened in here?"

There is a chorus of exclamations and gasps of shock as the new arrivals take in the destroyed equipment and the burns marring every surface in the room.

After a moment, the medical staff turn their questioning gazes to Yoruichi and Chad. Before they can ask any of the questions running through their minds, Ichigo's body starts to violently convulse as he coughs up blood. He suddenly collapses, slumping lifelessly out of his chair. The doctor rushes to his side.

"Clear the room! And seal it off to prevent the spread of any potential toxins." He orders the staff crowding around the bed and Ichigo's body. The unoccupied hospital personnel quickly exit.

After checking Ichigo for a pulse, Doctor Loud begins to administer CPR. After nearly three minutes of chest compressions, he looks up into the horrified eyes of Chad and Yoruichi and sadly proclaims, "He's dead."

_Orihime's Mindscape_

Ishida slumps over Ichigo's lifeless spirit body. Tsubaki returns to hovering over the island end of the bridge. He is no longer talking in six-part harmony. Rather, he appears to be having an argument with himself in six different voices.

"Perhaps we should've kept the other one, it seemed to understand the principle behind the test. This one doesn't do anything." This comment is in a mature-sounding male voice.

"Yes, but that one would not have been able to complete all of the tests. So we must deal with this one." A female voice.

"Are we agreed then?" Tsubaki asks the other voices.

"Agreed"

"Agreed"

"Agreed"

"Agreed"

"Agreed"

"Very well then, I will see if he will continue." Tsubaki returns his attention to the human, asking him in his own voice. "So will you attempt the tests?"

"Yes."

"Then begin."

Uryuu begins walking toward the island. As he approaches, Tsubaki begins to emit fiery rays before charging toward Ishida at high speed in a repeat of the fatal attack against Ichigo. Ishida tries to dodge the attack, but as soon as he ducks out of the way, there is a flash of light and Ishida disappears. He reappears almost instantly, back at the center of the bridge.

"What just happened?" Uryuu asks himself. He tries walking toward the end of the bridge, again. Once more, Tsubaki begins to glow crimson as he approaches. When he reaches some predetermined location, the fairy charges him again. This time, instead of trying to dodge he moves his bow to deflect the attack.

Once again, as soon as Ishida moves there is a flash of light and he reappears at the middle of the bridge. 'What is going on? Isn't this supposed to be the test of courage?'

Suddenly, a look of comprehension fills Ishida's eyes, and he walks confidently toward Tsubaki's position. This time, when the fairy begins his deadly attack, Ishida stands his ground. The fairy flies toward the center of his chest.

Ishida thinks to himself, 'If I'm wrong about this I'll soon be joining Kurosaki.'

As the fairy charges for his heart, Ishida makes no move to dodge or to defend himself.

Tsubaki makes contact… and passes through, harmlessly, like a ghost.

Ishida looks down and pats himself on the chest, looking for damage and is shocked to find none. He turns to face the fairy who is now hovering behind him.

The fairy smiles, "You have passed the test of courage. You may proceed." He immediately fades away.

Ishida crosses the bridge and approaches the second barrier. This one is in the form of a glowing, three-sided golden pyramid. Each of the bottom corners is occupied by one of the Santen Kesshun, Orihime's 'Three Sacred Links' defensive shield.

"We are the test of wisdom." Baigon, Lily, and Hinagiku speak together in unison. "Who are you?"

"I am Ishida Uryuu."

"That answer is only partially true. We ask again, 'Who are you?'."

Ishida thinks for a moment and then replies, "My name is Ishida Uryuu, I am the last Quincy, and friend of your Mistress."

"We did not ask your name or title. We asked who you are? Once again your answer is truthful and yet incorrect. We will only ask once more."

"What do you mean? I told you who I am. I thought this was a test of wisdom, not some kind of trick question. Do you want to know what pi is, out to twenty decimal places? Don't you have some kind of a riddle you want solved? Do you need to know the flight speed of an unladen swallow? WHAT DO YOU WANT?" As he is speaking, Ishida becomes increasingly upset, screaming the final words.

All three fairies of Santen Kesshun begin to buzz angrily. The walls of the pyramid shift from gold to an angry orange color.

"We do not test knowledge. We are the test of _WISDOM. _And we ask one last time: 'WHO ARE YOU?"

"I DON'T KNOW!!" Ishida cries out.

"Finally," they respond, "he answers with wisdom. Willingness to admit to a lack of knowledge or understanding is the first step to true wisdom. You may proceed." With that, the three fairies bow in Ishida's direction and then they, and the pyramid, fade out of existence.

When Ishida approaches the floating oval of energy, whatever had been delaying the destruction of Orihime's psyche loses its power. The earthquakes start again. At the cavern entrance, the creeping nothingness reappears.

Focusing their attention on Ishida, Ayame and Shun'o tell him, "We are the test of Will. All you must do to pass is make your way to the Mistress' side." The room shakes again, and the lava begins to bubble violently. "You must hurry. We do not have much time remaining."

Ishida puts his hand out to touch the shield. The instant that his flesh meets the glowing barrier, he screams in agony. He jerks away from the shield as quickly as possible. He looks down at his completely unharmed hand in disbelief.

'It felt like my hand was being burned off with acid. Yet I'm physically unharmed. Somehow the healing power of Sōten Kisshun has been turned around. It seems to be directly stimulating all of the pain receptors of the nervous system simultaneously.' His eyes widen as he realizes the full extent of the test. 'It will be the most excruciating experience of my life. All of the pain receptors will activate and stay active until I pass through. And I bet the healing powers of Sōten Kisshun will prevent the nerve endings from burning out from over-stimulation.'

The unraveling of Orihime's mind continues to accelerate, the swirling destruction reaching halfway into the cavern. Ishida looks around at the destruction and then plunges into the barrier.

The pain is excruciating! It feels like being burned, cut, crushed, scraped, and shredded simultaneously across every millimeter of his body. From the outside the shield appears paper thin. But once Ishida steps into it, the internal distance seems to stretch for miles. Biting his tongue to keep from screaming in agony, Ishida advances.

_**2:59 PM Hospital Room**_

The doctor arranges Ichigo's body on the floor next to Orihime's bed. Yoruichi slumps onto the ground next to Ichigo and is staring dazedly at his slack face as the mental projector hangs limply from one of her hands. The doctor briefly checks Orihime's status. After writing down the time of her death on the chart, he walks toward the door.

_****_

Mental Landscape

With a harsh scream, Ishida stumbles forward out of the barrier of the test of Will, and crumples alongside Orihime's bier.

Shun'o begins speak, "You must figure out the fourth test quickly, the Mistress is-" He suddenly fades out of existence in mid-sentence.

The destruction of the room is almost complete. Death's unforgiving advance has reached the island. All that remains are Ishida and Orihime's body on a small piece of land surrounded by the hungry darkness. And even that last remaining piece of solid ground is rapidly dissolving away beneath them.

Ishida looks down at the silver ribbon still fluttering around his midsection. For just a second, he considers taking hold of it and following it back to his body. 'It would be so easy. All I have to do is take hold of this thread, and I can live.'

'_Yes.' _His conscience agrees. '_But do you really wish to live the rest of your life, knowing that you failed your friends? That you failed the woman you lo--' _

Ishida shakes his head violently, cutting off his train of thought. 'Better to die here, than live with that.'

He turns to Orihime and begins speaking to her, "I'm so sorry, Inoue. I don't know what the fourth test is. I don't know how to save you." Tears roll down his face as he sobs out his next words: "I don't know which is worse. The fact that I will die knowing I failed you, or my regrets that I never told you how I felt for you."

"But, perhaps I can change that now… I Love _You_, Inoue." With those final words, he falls to his knees and places a gentle kiss on Orihime's lips just as the destruction of her mind rushes in to claim him.

_****_

3:00 PM Hospital Room

Yoruichi is still sitting on the floor beside Ichigo's body, her face filled with disbelieving horror. Chad is standing along the wall behind her, feeling the same emotions crashing through him.

'I have lost two of my friends today already.' He glances at Ishida's still unconscious form, 'And I may soon lose a third.'

On the bed, Orihime's slowly cooling body takes on a golden hue. Chad watches in amazement as the leads of her implanted pacemaker dissolve at their contact point with her skin. The IV feed lines slowly creep backward out of her arm, as if they are being pushed out from the inside. Once they are completely ejected, the incision heals without a trace that it was ever there.

From his place at Inoue's side, Uryuu suddenly gasps and sits upright. His eyes jerk wide open and he stares hopefully at Orihime's face. The dark circles under her eyes and the loose flesh caused by months of inactivity reform into the firm, full appearance of healthy youth.

A golden oval of energy snaps into appearance around Ichigo's lifeless body, forcing Yoruichi to back away. Everyone's attention is inexorably drawn to the hospital bed.

And they all bear witness to a miracle: Orihime Inoue opens her eyes and looks around her. Upon realizing she is surrounded by people staring at her, open-mouthed in shock, she nervously greets them.

"Ohio. Is, ah, are you all here for breakfast?"


End file.
